inner musings

Adult Faith Development Pt 3

2012-02-01T15:01:00.002-05:00

It is important to keep note that each stage includes and builds upon the previous. Each stage is essential to faith development, the problem is when we get stuck and stop moving upward.

The next level that contains the next stages of development is called the Conventional level of development. This level is where the bulk of society resides. This level contains the cognitive and faith levels of adolescence. It makes sense that most of our society is stuck here. Much of the marketing and media that we see is aimed at teenagers and their record amounts of disposable cash. I think that this conditions the mind to think that adolescence is the heyday of life. We could get into arguments of chicken and egg here, but it does not really matter at this point.

Now for the stages of this level. The First stage of the Conventional level is the Diplomat. This person starts to move away from a self oriented life and leans on a group of peers who define them. “Being a part of this larger entity allows one to be protected and share in its power. The price for protection is loyalty and obedience.” Teenagers' peers are their social protection and they will give loyalties to them even when it goes against the value systems they may have been taught. This stage moves away from the self love for self sake and moves into a love of others, but it is still for personal benefit that they love another. I love you for what you can do for me or how you make me feel. This is a necessary stage of development in the human mind, much social interaction is learned here.

Many legalistic, fundamental churches are stuck in this stage. They would say, “If you adhere to our rules then we give you the power of being in the elite club as well as the protection of not going to hell.”

The next stage is an in-between stage of 3 and 4 called the Expert. The Expert has come to a place of wanting their own identity apart from the crowd, yet desiring their acceptance by proving his/her superiority to that crowd. This is a crucial stage in development in which one desires to become an individual, yet does not possess the confidence to break from the crowd. They still seek their identity and self worth from the crowd. You see this stage practiced in the pursuit of more stuff/knowledge/position for the sake of bragging rights. My car is nicer, my story is better, my trophy is bigger, my salary is higher: now am I acceptable? These people often feel they have all the answers and feel self-righteous in their knowledge.

In Cook-Greuter’s study, she found that 36.5% of American adults surveyed were stuck in this stage. This stage adheres to a system of rules and has a high capability of feeling “shame and guilt.”

Many Christians seem to be found at this stage. These Christians love the writings of Paul and all of his lists of morality, but are confused when they read Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, which ironically is the foundation of Paul’s writings! What they do not understand: any paradox, mystery, or discussion of true transformation outside of the chief end of becoming more moral, is often “intellectualized, rationalized, and explained away.”

Many churches are stuck here as well, and the next generation of young people can see through the intellectualizations and often steer clear of this church because of its institutionalization of rules that are foreign to their own circle and value system.

The Capacity of love of these individuals is still self-focused, but disguised. Experts love God and others for what they get in return from them.

Adult Faith Development Pt 2

2012-01-24T15:27:00.003-05:00

Discussed in the previous post was the two different types of growth, horizontal: growing ins skill, knowledge, and facts. In this growth we become smarter, but not necessarily more mature as a Christian. Just because we have memorized the book of John does not mean that we are now living the truths found therein.

Vertical growth is when we become more aware of God; His working in our life and world. We awaken to God moving in areas of life that we were previously blinded to. Everyone can see the blessing and working of God in finding a $20 bill on the ground, it does not take much to see blessing there, but when you can see God in the face of poverty, in the sick, the least of these, then you are moving up in your awareness of God's presence that is saturating the world.

We also move up in our capacity of love. As we start to awaken to God's presence and working in the world around us, it becomes more natural to love those we encounter, even those that irritate us or are outright hostile to us. Vertical growth means that we are becoming more spiritually mature whereas horizontal growth is merely getting more intelligent.

How does this work itself out? Let me illustrate with an example of a description of a stage one and two individual from the Pre-Conventional level the Impulsive:

The Impulsive, treats other people as a “source of need gratification or supply.” Naturally a baby is at this level of mental development, but there are a few who do get stuck in this stage for life, most of the time these individuals end up in prisons due to their self centered existence. The awareness of God in this stage is very low, and these individuals are unapologetic in their self centered-ness. "The world and its participants exists for me, and me alone."

The second stage of the Pre-conventional level is the Opportunist, illustrated here, who “sees the world only from the perspective of their own needs and wants…[and gets it] by controlling others and protecting oneself.” These individuals have become masters of manipulation. They have matured a bit in their thinking, now they can take into effect others' perspectives, but only to get what they want. Toddlers have matured into this stage and are well known for their skills at manipulating parents to get needs met. Some people do get stuck in this stage and do not mature beyond it.

Thompson, in the Congruent life, sums up these two stages saying, “Stage 1… sees the world in terms of the gratification of one’s own basic needs and the avoidance of personal harm. People at stage 2 become capable of assessing the needs of others…but usually only as a means of getting what they themselves want.”

Bernard of Clairvoux would say that the capacity of love for these individuals is self focused: they love self for the sake of self.

Adult Faith Development Pt 1

2012-01-20T12:06:00.003-05:00

I am very close to finishing my Masters Degree in Spiritual Formation and Leadership. In this program, I have learned that there is a process to being formed into the image of Christ, and while mapping out the process is like mapping the ocean floor, I have found that there are milestones along the way and different levels of function.

When we think of stages of development, we may think that some stages are inferior to others and create a hierarchy. This is a mistake, we know that God can be equally found in the poor in spirit as he can with a whole individual. When I speak of stages of development, I am speaking of a way of functioning in the world and with God, not a higher level of value as a human being.

I call this a modified Cook-Greuter scale of faith development. Susane Cook-Greuter has done some amazing work with the study of adult development, and I have stood on her shoulders along with St Bernard of Clairvoux's four degrees of love, and integrated many concepts of Spiritual Formation into a working illustration of faith development.

You can see illustrated in this philosophy of Christian leadership that there is room for 3D movement in both vertical and horizontal directions. Not all growth will result in a greater awareness of God and capacity of love. Cook-Greuter suggests that a person can have horizontal growth when they “learn new skills, new methods, new facts, even new ways of organizing knowledge, but their current action logic mental model of the world remains the same.” This means that we can grow horizontally without growing vertically.

I have observed that much growth in the church has been horizontal: more knowledge of theology, scripture memorization, church program involvement, preaching skills, strategic planning, missional models, administration of vision; but, in this model, horizontal growth does not equal vertical growth. Horizontal growth is what “discipleship” has come to mean in these later years of the Enlightenment. Christian Spiritual Formation, however, emphasizes vertical growth with horizontal growth as a consequential fruit. As we define the nine stages of adult development illustrated here, we shall see why an emphasis on mere horizontal growth becomes a problem to leadership and a corporate church setting.

The chart is broken into three levels of awareness: Pre-conventional, Conventional, and Post-Conventional. Each level brings with it new paradigms of thinking and being, an increased awareness of God; His workings in our own lives and the world around us, and a greater capacity of love for God, others, and our self. Each level has different stages within, which have varying capacities of function.

The Call of the Wild and Spiritual Formation

2011-05-27T11:46:00.004-04:00

I just finished this classic book last night. I loved it! This book is about a domesticated dog, Buck, who is half Shepherd and half St. Bernard. Buck is kidnapped and sold into the dog sledding industry at the time of the gold rush.

The book is written from Buck's perspective, but it is not a Disney-fied version of a dog's perspective. We follow the dog's thoughts and perceptions as he goes from domesticated, to fully alive, and wild. The book is brutal to read, as it follows all of the trials that Buck faces while learning the "law of club and fang." These trials include beatings, starvation, exhaustion, kill or be killed scenarios, death of friends, fights, dealing with weather extremes, and learning, through trial and error, the life of a sled dog.

Tho book is really a great inspiration on surviving life's trials and letting them shape your character into something stronger and more pure, what God intended you to be. When you compare Buck in the beginning of the book, struggling and learning to live in the cold extremes of the northern outdoors, to the end of the book, Buck is a mean, lean, wild dog machine which can take on a full grown bull moose, a pack of wolves, and a hunting party of Indians, it really puts life into perspective.

Through this story, I was encouraged to let the tough times of life mold my character into something stronger, wiser, and more wild and alive than the domesticated version of me that is weak, foolish, and tame.

I believe that this book speaks to the idea of Christian Spiritual Formation: the process of being formed into the image of Christ for the sake of the world. The world will benefit from a stronger, wiser, and more wild and alive me than it would the domesticated version. I believe that it would benefit from a YOU that is stronger, wiser, and more wild and alive as well. Read this book and let it challenge and inspire you.

Why the World Will Not End Saturday...

2011-05-17T11:29:00.002-04:00

I have issues with this theology on so many different levels. Here are a few:

Problem #1: Ethical. Mr. Tom Evans predicted the end of the world in 1994 and was obviously wrong. He chalked it up as a mathematical error. Oops. Sorry that I soaked up people's life savings, passions, ministry resources, people's concepts of God, man, and the church that could have been spent on actual purposes of God and His Kingdom. Maybe next prediction will be right. When this Saturday comes and goes I am sure that there will be another mathematical error statement. Why anyone would put stock into this again is beyond my comprehension. If Christ does come back this Saturday it will not be because Mr. Tom Evans predicted it through numerology, it will be because it is time. The two coinciding would be mere coincidence.

Problem #2: Theological. The destruction of the world is not in the Bible. Revelation 21:3 says that God makes HIS home with US. Here. Not us there, but Him here. It goes on to say in verse 4 that the world is actually resurrected to wholeness and healed of death, pain, and sin, by God Himself. Verse 5 says that God will make all things new.

Problem #3: Philosophical. This seems more of a Gnostic heresy than Biblical Christianity. Gnosticism was a heresy that the church fought tooth and nail with early in its early days. To simplify it, it states that physical matter = bad | spiritual = good. “Christian” Gnosticism says that Physical world = bad | Spiritual heaven = good. The problem is Jesus occupied a human body that was fully man as much as fully divine. God made the physical world and stated that it was “very good.” (I wholeheartedly agree with Him) The corruption has taken place in the systems and structures of this world. Those are done away with at the end and the physical creation is healed and restored, not destroyed.

Problem #4: Sociological. This paints a poor picture of God, his church, and his motives and intentions for humankind. Judgment is something that is to be looked forward to. I want the evil systems and structures of this world to be gone. They are what hinder us from becoming into who God created us to be. This view of God promotes a view of Christians as judgmental, self-righteous, prideful, vengeful, and, sorry to say, ignorant. It paints God to be a bloodthirsty, vengeful, bitter old man who can’t wait to give it to those “sinners” down there.

To sum it up, this campaign is a perfect picture of what is wrong with the Western Evangelical Fundamental Christian Church. Because I love the church, I love God’s creation, and I love God, I am grieved, mad, frustrated, and just plain fed up that Christians would even give this theology the attention it has received and I wish that I did not have to waste an hour of my day writing this post.

Process of Christian Formation Pt 3

2011-05-08T23:12:00.002-04:00

Now we come to the integrated life. What are we aiming at? What do we wish to see from our Christian experience? What are we supposed to look like on the other side of a transforming relationship with Christ? The word that I found best describes this goal is the word integrated.

You can see that the lines separating the body spirit and soul are now dashed lines. This illustrates that how we live, what we think, and what we value is now one. We are no longer a “double minded person” (Js 1.8).

Notice at the center of this picture there is the Divine presence of God. This is the theology of omnipresence, but as a reality experienced. The Divine presence of God is now the Reality from which we center all of life around, and the source of all our activity in the world.

When we are living with the center of our life correct, our activity then becomes apprenticing Jesus in the world and learning the “family trade” of redemption. God is in the business of redemption, and we are to learn this trade by “shadowing” God in this world. The fancy bible name for this is “incarnation” God with flesh. We are now to be the ongoing incarnation in the world bringing God’s redemption. We become, through the Holy Spirit within us, the presence of God in the world. Paul refers to this as being an Ambasador for Christ (2 Cor. 5.20) and the church practices this by praying and acting “in Jesus' name.”

This apprenticing has a few pathways. In our personal life, we now display the fruits of the Spirit in our attitudes: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control (Gal. 5:22-23). When people encounter us, they encounter one who displays the characteristics of God, and thus, they encounter God through us.

Another pathway is through the gifts of the Spirit. It is hard to nail down a list of the gifts, there are a few different ones in the Scriptures, but we do know that the Holy Spirit wishes to do something with our life, and He empowers us to do so with gifts. These gifts are God’s actions in the world.

The third pathway that I see as an encounter with God is through the Body of Christ, a local community of believers that is an expression of his presence. When the body of Christ gathers together for worship, teaching, prayer, and serving, we become a microcosm of the global and historical church of God within our community.

Through these three pathways we reach into the contexts that we live and redeem what God wishes to redeem, and to battle that which God wishes to battle. When we do this we are contributing to the goal of Revelation 21 of a new heaven and a new earth, one that is married together (or integrated).

Process of Christian Formation Pt 2

2011-05-06T11:05:00.004-04:00

Welcome to the Dis-Integrated life. This picture is the front of the cylinder. The life you see before you now is a compartmentalized existence. The book of Hebrews tells us: “Indeed, the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12 (NRSV) Vine’s New Testament Dictionary says this concerning this verse: “The spirit may be recognized as the life principle (the way we think) bestowed on man by God, the soul as the resulting life constituted in the individual (what we believe to be true at the core of who we are, not just cognitively), the body being the material organism animated by soul and spirit.”

WORLD: Our Environment

The outer circle is the world, the environment that we find ourselves in, our work, family, friends, recreations, and errands. This is the air we breathe and the water we swim in. This is the physical world. At its core, the world is good, physical creation declares the glory of God. (Ps. 19.1) Yet the physical world has a set of values and structures that is corrupt governing it. The world needs redemption. For many people, the systems and structures of the corrupt world define ultimate reality, this is the god they serve. The Old Testament refers to this as idolatry. Then it was bowing physically to a statue that they believed would make the world better. Today it is bowing to the invisible systems and structures believing that they have the power to make the world better.

Ephesians describes this depth of living saying, “You were dead through the trespasses and sins in which you once lived, following the course of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient. All of us once lived among them in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of flesh and senses, and we were by nature children of wrath, like everyone else.” 2:1-3 (NRSV)

BODY: Our Vessel

We have a physical body that is our vessel for traversing this environment. Our body is how we experienced the world. We see, hear, taste, touch, and smell our environments. If we are living as thought the physical world is ultimate reality, we will let the physical world dictate how we behave, how we think, and how we feel.

The world tries to effect the way we behave within it by catering to these five senses, and encouraging us to indulge in it. The Bible says: “Satan, who is the god of this world (age), has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.” 2 Corinthians 4:4 (NLT) The church has classically called the weapons of the “god of this age” the seven deadly vices: pride, greed, lust, sloth, envy, anger, and gluttony. The corrupt world tries to effect how you behave in the world, and it attempts to effect how you think. The world always works from the outside in, illustrated by the arrows pointing inwards. The world wants to consume us (Example: the world wants to control your behavior of spending because it wants your allegiance, it uses greed and envy to cater to you and get you to indulge in frivolities.)

Reminder: The world is at its core, good, (Genesis 1.31) it is the systems and structures that are corrupted by the “god of this age” that need redemption back into God’s purposes. More on that later.

SPIRIT: How you think

We also have a spirit (Greek word Psyche, where we get our word Psychology) Your spirit is the way you think, what you believe to be true. This effects how you behave in the world. This is the worldview that you have bought into, the core narratives that you believe to be true of God, man, and the universe. If these narratives are false, it can be devastating to how we live. (i.e. God is a cranky old man, therefore I will try to appease him with good behavior so he will not get mad at me and punish me.)

The world we find ourselves in attempts to dictate what we believe to be true in order to exploit us for its own purposes. (If you do not believe that one, read any mission statement of a marketing company and see how close it comes to the previous statement.) The spiritual vices are hooks in our mind that we do not know exist that drag us away from the peace of God’s presence in our life.

If we are religious, the spiritual vices can become a religious false self, built upon false perceptions of how we think God views us, what the Pharisees of Jesus’ day were plagued with. If we are not religious, the spiritual vices can be a false self built upon other’s perceptions of us, what the Greek pagans were plagued with of Jesus’ day. Both are illustrated with the parable of the prodigal sons. (Luke 15)

SOUL: Our core beliefs

The soul is the place of your passions, your eros energy. Rolheisser defines spirituality as "what we do with the fires inside of us, about how we channel our eros." (Holy Longing) God has placed inside of us a holy passion to seek him out within his creation. This is our eros energy. It is a very holy energy that is often spilled out on unholy things in unholy ways. Eros is the Greek word for love in which we get our word erotic from.

The soul is where we wrestle with our emotions, especially joy, sadness, hope, and fear which in and of themselves are very neutral, but can lead us away from the center of our being, the Divine presence within.

THE CHALLENGE

The spirituality of this life is one of compartmentalizing. Spirituality does not fit into certain worldly endeavors such as work, family, or recreation. The challenge is to move beyond this shallow existence into a deeper and more integrated life and be the person God created us to be. To live in a way that our life is centered on the presence of God within us and to live from that reality instead of letting our external environments dictate who we are.

Process of Christian Formation Pt 1

2011-05-04T11:29:00.002-04:00

As a part of my Master’s Degree in Spiritual Formation and Leadership, I am thinking through the process that a soul takes in formation into Christ-likeness. The idea of a cylinder came to mind. On one end we have the conversion experience and the other is what I call the “Integrated Life” or how a Christ-like soul operates in the world.

The cylinder is a timeline that is both linear and cyclical. The problem with cyclical timelines is that you never seem to get anywhere, and life becomes redundant. The problem with linear timelines is that it makes no room for the chaos in life. Everything needs to happen in a certain order. Combining the two into one shows the progress of a linear timeline yet involving the cyclical leaves room for the messiness of life.

On the beginning side of the cylinder we have a life that is not integrated and very much compartmentalized. Our faith, if we have one, is not a part of our everyday existence. Possibly it is merely fire insurance faith. Possibly it is our parents faith.

In the middle of the cylinder we have a progression into Christ-likeness. There are three depths of conversion. Each depth is entered through by the Dark Night as described by John of the Cross. After each Dark Night there is a progression of Releasing, Receiving, and Integrating.

On the end of the cylinder is the Inegrated Life, a life formed into the image of Christ for the sake of the world.

Now for a closer look into these sections...

Humble Me

2011-04-28T15:40:00.000-04:00

Lyrics that I am pondering today: Humble Me by Norah Jones

Went out on a limb
Gone too far
Broke down at the side of the road
Stranded at the outskirts and the sun's creepin' up

Baby's in the backseat
Still fast asleep
Dreamin' of better days
I don't want to call you but you're all I have to turn to

What do you say
When it's all gone away?
Baby I didn't mean to hurt you
Truth spoke in whispers will tear you apart
No matter how hard you resist it
It never rains when you want it to

You humble me Lord
You humble me Lord
I'm on my knees empty
You humble me Lord
You humble me Lord
So please, please, please forgive me

Baby Teresa she's got your eyes
I see you all the time
When she asks about her daddy
I never know what to say

Heard you kicked the bottle
And you helped build the church
You carry an honest wage
Is it true you have someone keeping you company?

What do you say
When it's all gone away?
Baby I didn't mean to hurt you
Truth spoke in whispers will tear you apart
No matter how hard you resist it
It never rains when you want it to

How they all fit together.

2010-10-29T13:24:00.002-04:00

We have looked at how all four characters look individually. We’ve seen how they operate when things are good, and how to notice where they are operating in bad ways in our life. There is one more study that is imperative to the four characters, and that is how they tie together and need each other to become whole, to reach their potential, and to stay clear of the bipolar shadows that are inherent in each.

KING
The King is the foundational character that all others are built upon. He is the basis of order, the ruler of the other three. He provides a fertile kingdom for the four to operate together and become effective. As mentioned earlier about the King, he embodies the law of the land. He lives his rule, and that example extends to the kingdom.

The King is not self sufficient, as powerful as he may be. He needs the Warrior to keep from becoming the weakling, or one who is hesitant to act. The King needs the Warrior to combat and conquer evil. He needs him to extend his kingdom’s rule to the chaos that is outside his realm; the chaos that threatens the peace of all lands. A King without a courageous Warrior is powerless.

The King needs the Magician for his wisdom. This wisdom allows him to rule effectively. An unwise King will not know how to pass proper laws that will provide healthy boundaries for the fertility and peace of the land. If the Warrior goes on conquest to extend the land, but there is not proper law brought to the new land, all is lost in one form of chaos replacing another. Jesus said that if you drive out a demon and do not clean house, he will bring back seven more demons, more wicked than himself. (Matthew 12:45) A King without a wise Magician is useless.

The King needs the Lover in order to show mercy to those within his kingdom. A merciless King will turn into a tyrant who does not embody his law, who does not live out his rule. A merciless King rules his kingdom out of fear, and creates fear within it. A King without the Lover is ruthless.

WARRIOR
The Warrior, as courageous as he is, is not a stand-alone character either. The Warrior needs the other four characters to bring a balanced role so he does not slip into the barbarian and/or pushover.

The Warrior needs the King for the purpose of conquest. A Warrior without a purpose is merely a savage. A Warrior without a purpose will go out and look for one. He will take up trivial causes to keep from getting bored. He will take his frustrations and anger out on people around him. A Warrior without a strong King is dangerous.

The Warrior needs the Magician for the knowledge and skill of combat. A Wise Magician can train up a Warrior in the arts, tactics and skills of weapon wielding. A Warrior who does not know how to properly use his weapons is not very effective, just as a Warrior who is not skilled in the art of tactics is useless in battle. This Warrior will have an overabundance of energy, but will be defeated quickly and easily for a lack of knowledge. The Warrior without a skilled Magician is ineffective.

The Warrior also needs the compassionate Lover to keep from becoming a barbarian. The Lover provides the compassion needed for acts of mercy, the ability to feel. Not all battle needs to be done by the sword. The compassionate Warrior will also be able to take on a fight for another. The Bible often refers to looking after widows and orphans, those who do not have the ability to battle on their own. The Warrior without the compassionate Lover is barbaric.

MAGICIAN
The Magician is in dire need of the other three characters to bring order and balance to his characteristics. He needs the King’s accountability, the Warriors action, and the Lovers mercy.

The Magician needs the King’s accountability. Often the Magician can use his knowledge for manipulation for selfish gains. The King will embody the law, live the rule, and give an example for the Magician to follow. The Magician who does not have the accountability of a King becomes a manipulator.

The Magician needs the Warrior for his action. There is an old saying, “Those who can do, do, those who cannot do, teach.” While that may be selling our teachers short, the Magician, on his own is incapable of action. He has many great ideas, much knowledge on issues, and wise in tactics to get things accomplished, but he lacks the strength on his own to make any of it happen. A Magician without a Warrior is immobile.

The Magician needs the Lover’s patience. Often the Magician can get frustrated with all the “idiots who don’t get it” and become ineffective in helping them to understand his wisdom. The Magician who lacks a patient Lover will become self-righteous, and condescending.

LOVER
The Lover is in desperate need of each of the other three characters to help give him the proper boundaries he needs for healthy operation, instead of chaotic consumption of his passions.

The Lover needs the King to set the boundaries of what will bring peace into the kingdom. These boundaries will allow the Lover to flourish healthily without consuming his entire life with passions running wild. A Lover without a controlled King is a consuming wildfire that destroys what it seeks to enjoy.

The Lover needs the Warrior to provide the discipline needed to keep his passions within its proper boundaries. A King provides the rule and boundaries, while the Warrior enforces those boundaries. A Lover without a Warrior is a weak addict.

The Lover needs the Magician to provide understanding of the importance of boundaries. The Lover needs the Magician to bring knowledge of art, beauty, and creativity. The lover needs the Magician to bring skill in the areas of romance and how to love his wife, musicianship and how to create music, tools on how to create art, vocabulary skills on how to write. The Lover without a Magician is left silent.

If we strive to learn about ourselves through these four characters, strive to learn where we are strong and enforce it, and strive to learn about where we are weak and work to strengthen these areas, we can live a great story from day to day. We can be men of character, principle, passion, action, and peace. The Bible calls this wholeness. We can move towards wholeness and healing as men, and impart this to those around us.

Closing Prayer
We would do well to pray for ourselves what Thomas Merton prayed for himself:
MY LORD GOD, I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.
Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you.
And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.
And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.
I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.

- Thomas Merton, "Thoughts in Solitude"

The Lover

2010-10-20T00:16:00.002-04:00

“We live in a society whose whole policy is to excite every nerve in the human body and keep it at the highest pitch of artificial tension, to strain every human desire to the limit and create as many new desires and synthetic passions as possible, in order to cater to them with the products of our factories and printing presses and movie studios and all the rest.”
-Thomas Merton

Who the Lover Is
The Lover, he is the character that most men do not know what to do with, yet he won’t go away. He is seen as a weak, needy personality. He is perceived to be evil in many Christian circles because he is tied to passion, and “passion leads to sin” is a perception held on to by many churches. Still the presence of the Lover will not be ignored, bottled, or set aside.

Conservative religion condemns him. This condemnation sends the Lover underground into hiding. You don’t talk about him, you don’t acknowledge his existence. You bottle him up and try not to disturb him too much lest he explode and get you into trouble. The problem conservatives have with this personality is that they tie the Lover merely to sex, and think that there is nothing more found within this role. His personality will not be simplified like this though. It is larger, and more rounded than that.

Liberal religion does not restrain him. They make the mistake, not of bottling, but of spilling. “Don’t bottle the lover,” they say, “let it run freely.” If you dump your bottle of coke on the ground, you still don’t get to enjoy the drink, just like those who never open it, and keep it bottled. There has to be a common ground to stand on and have a healthy expression of this character.

You cannot bottle up this character. Passion always bursts from its prison, yet you cannot spill the precious water on the ground. Passion must be contained in a proper vessel, and given the proper outlets, or it resents you and rears its ugly head in unhealthy ways.

What does the Lover look like? What are his personality traits? The Lover is the one who appreciates and enjoys beauty, creativity, and love. The Lover is the poet, artist, or musician in all of us. The Lover is the one who is compassionate, merciful, and pitiful of other people. He is the one who extends grace, who is strong enough to not take revenge, who is patient with those who irritate him.

The lover enjoys beauty, creativity, and love. He is the one who can sit in the woods hunting and see the sunrise, hear the birds sing, the wind blowing the leaves, and think, “This is beautiful.” He is the one who can see a painting, hear a piece of music, see a well done film, or read a piece of writing and say, “That was creatively put together to communicate meaning.” He is the one who can look at his wife, all decked out for a date, and truly appreciate what she has done with hair, makeup, and dress.

What the Lover Does
The lover extends compassion, mercy, and patience. He is the one who can see a person in need and feel what they feel, and act in whatever capacity he is able to help. He is the one who hears of a petty wrong done against him and rise above his petty desire for revenge and extend mercy and forgiveness. He is the one who can extend patience to the people who push his buttons, irritate him, or have a different set of values they live by.

Of course, we can’t speak of the lover and be silent on romance! The lover is the one who can romance his wife, sweep her off her feet, speak loving encouragement, appreciate her beauty, and love her sexually and non-sexually.

Within great stories the lover is prevalent. Think of characters like William Wallace from Braveheart, Robin Hood, Maximus from The Gladiator, Uncas from Last of the Mohicans, Sam Spade from the Maltese Falcon, Rocky. All of these characters that we can identify with had strength, AND they had heart. They exhibit compassion, fidelity, love, and mercy.

The Lover gives us creativity and passion to appreciate life and God’s creation. The lover helps us appreciate food, art, music, poetry, story, beauty. The Lover gives us an emotional connection to others in deep friendships. The lover character goes far beyond sexuality, although that is included, the Lover is the one who can enjoy life to its fullest extent without being consumed by this enjoyment.

Where the Lover Goes Bad
When the lover goes wrong, he turns into his bipolar shadow, the addict or the calloused. The addict is the lover who has no boundaries, whose fire burns outside of the fireplace and consumes the entire house.

If you grow tomatoes, you know there is a reason that you place cages around the plant. It is not for the restriction of the plant, but for the purpose of helping it bear fruit. The cage lifts the plant off of the ground, keeps the tomatoes off of the ground, gives more of the plant access to sunshine and water, and helps the grower see what fruit is there for consumption. Boundaries do not mean bottling.

The bottled lover will soon turn into the addict, passion unrestrained. He is not strong enough or mature enough to wield the power of passion, so he lets his passion wield him instead. But all this access to unrestrained passion also leaves him calloused. When your skin has prolonged exposure to something, it starts to thicken and toughen for its protection. This is what happens to the addict.

A man who is suffering from calloused passions will notice that he no longer appreciates the sunset like he used to, or he is unable to offer compassion to a hurting individual. Perhaps he is irritable with those who are “beneath him” who try his patience, or he only goes to see a movie for its special effects. Perhaps the calloused lover is no longer able to appreciate the beauty of his wife, and she goes unappreciated, unloved, and unnoticed. This is not an overnight venture, of course, callouses take time to build, and do not show up right away. Often a callus forms over time through much pain and blistering.

We cannot go through life without proper channels for the lover to communicate through. We cannot go through life with unrestrained passion, or bottled up passion. We end up calloused addicts without creativity, no ability to appreciate beauty and life, and no desire to extend compassion.

A Biblical Example:
Jesus: the example of mercy and kindness
It seems so uncomfortable to attribute the title Lover to Jesus, but this is due to our immature and incomplete concepts of Lover. Isn’t it Jesus who tells us the story of the Prodigal Son and the Good Samaritan? He sets the standard for compassion. Isn’t it Jesus who is moved with compassion for Jerusalem and weeps over its pending judgment? Isn’t it Jesus who often retreats to the solitude of the beauty of God’s creation to pray? Whose idea was it to invent romance and sex? Who wrote the steamy Song of Songs book in our Bible?

Isn’t it Jesus who refers to his church as a bride whom he is the bridegroom of, and who he gives his life for? Jesus shows us the ultimate love, mercy, and compassion by walking the road to the cross and enduring death for our sake. Jesus’ self sacrificial love is our prime example of love. We are to love others as we love ourselves. We are to treat others as we would want to be treated. Jesus sets the standard for loving. The Apostle John even states that “God is Love” in his first epistle.

How different would our families be if we practiced a self sacrificial love towards them? How much richer would our life be if we could place boundaries on our passions and give them outlets? What would our life look like if we loved like Jesus?

The Magician

2010-10-16T00:23:00.005-04:00

”Joyful is the person who finds wisdom, the one who gains understanding. For wisdom is more profitable than silver, and her wages are better than gold. Wisdom is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire can compare with her. She offers you long life in her right hand, and riches and honor in her left. She will guide you down delightful paths; all her ways are satisfying. Wisdom is a tree of life to those who embrace her; happy are those who hold her tightly.”
Proverbs 3:13-18 (NLT)

Who the Magician Is
You may be wondering where this character comes into the scheme of things. The word Magician has so many mysterious images that immediately come to mind upon hearing it. But once this character is described, the mystery fades and he becomes familiar.

The images drawn into the mind when we hear the word Magician are probably ones that are out of touch with the modern age. Possibly you are thinking of a tribal medicine man, an Indian shaman; perhaps you think of something from a legendary tale, like Merlin from the stories of King Arthur. While these pictures carry a somewhat accurate image of the Magician, they are limited and distant.

Regardless of the pictures we see, or how vividly we may see them, the fact remains that, for most modern people, the notion of a Magician is viewed as an ancient, outdated vocation. Nowadays, only “illusionists” exist, and they are not trusted counselors to kings, or dreaded villains to be overcome. They may, however, perform at your child’s birthday party. The truth is, however, the true Magician is the master of wisdom and knowledge. Some would call him the sage, the elder, the magi, or the wise teacher.

A great picture of a modern day Magician would be that of the mountain man, the man who knows the trail and can guide you past the dangers ahead. He is the scientist, master of the microscope who can find cures for diseases. He is the soldier, a master of his martial discipline. He is the doctor, who can hear a bit of congestion in the lung and diagnose pneumonia. He is the pastor who can teach truths from the Bible in ways that make sense in modern times. The magician is the keeper of knowledge, and possessor of the wisdom needed to properly use that knowledge.

What the Magician Does
The Magician is a picture of the mature man who possesses insight, awareness, wisdom, and knowledge. The magician possesses the ability to stand back and look at himself, others, and life from a standpoint of observation. The Magician will then take the information and use wisdom to offer necessary decisions.

The mature Magician is able to know how to handle his family when things are not working properly. He will be skilled in the art of balancing the expectations of work and family. A good Magician will be master of the technology available to him while not becoming addicted to it. A good Magician will take over during a crisis and override panic to swerve instead of hit the back of the car. The Magician is the wise old sage, experienced in matters of life, able to guide and offer wisdom in areas of life whether during times of peace or crisis.

More importantly, the Magician is able to have insight into the spiritual life. The Magician seeks and finds the answers to the questions: “What does a vital connection to God look like when lived out”? How does one mine the treasures out of God’s word and apply them to life and circumstances”? How do you go about deep and meaningful prayer that goes beyond empty conversation with an invisible person”? “Why should I fast”? How does a healthy physical, mental, emotional, sexual life benefit my faith”? The Magician is wise in spiritual practices as well as everyday life, and he knows how to make connections between the two.

The Magician then offers this wisdom of life and spirituality to those around him. He lives out what Jesus said in John 7:38 “Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.’” (NLT) Many people in our lives need access to this living water. We need access to it ourselves, so that others can come and learn how to become a source for a river as well. What if our kids could come to us for spiritual wisdom? What if our wife could lean on us for spiritual strength? What if our friends could come to us for insightful wisdom? What if our workplace was enriched because of our spiritual connection to God? This area belongs to the Magician.

Where the Magician Goes Bad
Unfortunately, the Magician has its dark side as well, when he plays the role of the manipulator. In ancient tales of kings, we know that they have an advisor. In Lord of the Rings, King Theoden is under the evil spell of Saruman. His advisor, Grima, also called Wormtounge, takes full advantage of this. He secretly runs the kingdom through lies and persuasion. Wormtongue offers only the advice that will benefit him, not the kingdom. This is an exaggerated picture of what the Magician turned manipulator looks like.

The manipulator does not guide others with his wisdom, but manipulates them to get what he wants. He does so in a sneaky manner. The manipulator has information that could help, but selfishly withholds it for the benefit of himself. The manipulator hurts others with his knowledge.

This can be seen in the real estate agent who withholds information about the house’s septic tank to make the sale, or the lawyer who holds back crucial information in order to have another meeting. This can be the teacher who uses his knowledge to make his students feel inadequate instead of dispensing edifying knowledge and life.

When the Magician lets his knowledge make him prideful instead of helpful, he hurts others, and he hurts himself as well. He sits back and observes life, instead of living it. He thinks and do not act. He gets caught up with indecision and fears living life. He fears making a bad move, so he does not move at all.
The passive manipulator is all-of-the above, but with a nice-guy façade. He manipulates with a smile. His smile is to hide his fear. He fears questions that reveal the truth about who he really is. He is passively hostile towards those who would bring criticism, questions, or advice, but, again, all with a smile. He is referred to as the “Innocent One” who walks around with a “who me?” demeanor, and a “How dare you accuse the Innocent One” attitude.

The passive manipulator wants the position of Magician, the power that comes with it, but does not want to take the hard road that will get him there. The passive manipulator is a fragile human being, and that is why he is so defensive. He needs to protect his fragility. These men are hard to accuse and bring into the light due to their elusive, innocent façade.

They do possess knowledge, but instead of becoming like lights to the world, they use it to become like shadows. They like the side of the Magician that is seen as mysterious. This gives them power. They shun the role of teacher, preferring to offer riddles that confound and confuse. They may fill the role of teacher, but the spirit of that role is one they dread; for a true teacher is an unselfish giver of wisdom and knowledge, who hopes deeply that what is given will be of great benefit to the recipient.

How can we access the Magician, and bring him to maturity in our lives? We need to practice the ability to honestly look at ourselves. We need to stop protecting our fragile egos from reality, and expose them before God so he can change us. The reason we get caught up in the role of the manipulator is fear. We fear authenticity so we hold others at bay with manipulation. We desperately need access to the wise Magician in order to know how to properly handle life and all its complexity. We need only to let go of fear and obey the most repeated command from the Bible, “Do not be afraid. I am with you.”

A Biblical Example:
Jesus: teacher of wisdom
Jesus is our prime example of the Magician. He was the keeper of the knowledge and truth of God, and freely dispensed it. He knew how to live a life that pleased God, and shared it with others. Jesus could interpret Scripture with true insight as to what our proper response should be, and he taught it.

The Pharisees were the teachers of Jesus’ day. Many used their knowledge for personal gain. They were the lawyers of the religious and political system. If you could not afford their services, you were probably labeled “sinner” or “unclean” and pushed to the side. Your relationship with God was hindered if you were not financially able to get the needed information out of these “experts” regarding how to become “righteous” or “clean.”

Jesus says this out of his anger towards this group of Pharisees,
“They crush people with impossible religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden. “Everything they do is for show…“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you shut the door of the Kingdom of Heaven in people’s faces. You won’t go in yourselves, and you don’t let others enter either…“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore the more important aspects of the law—justice, mercy, and faith. “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy—full of greed and self-indulgence!” (Matthew 23:4-5, 13, 23, 25 (NLT)

Jesus was quick to come to the aid of those who have been trod upon. He was quick to freely give his life-giving information about how to live righteously. Jesus did not hold vital information back, or use his wisdom for his own gain. We can still access these teachings today in the Bible, and dispense this wisdom to those we love. We need more men who can live out the character of the Magician for the benefit of others.

The Warrior

2010-10-13T22:47:00.004-04:00

“Our difficulties and our dangers will not be removed by closing our eyes to them”
–Winston Churchill

Who the Warrior Is
We men, young and old, seem to be drawn to the character of the Warrior more than any other character. We love the stories where we can watch valiant Warriors come through when it’s all on the line. We desire this same ability within ourselves as well; the ability to show the world, and possibly ourselves, we have what it takes.

Boys growing up connect early with the character of the Warrior. No matter how hard you try to suppress the Warrior in a boy, he will find a way to play out its character. Take his guns, and he will pick up a stick, it is now a bazooka. Boys continue this fascination into teenage years with video games, living out the Warrior vicariously, it then continues into manhood with sports and hunting. He does not go away.

Properly lived, the character of Warrior has strength, energy, and motivation to take life and its problems head on, moving forward, and taking ground. Doesn’t that sound great? If we live out the character of Warrior in our own story, we can take an active stance towards life’s conflicts instead of a passive one that merely holds its ground, or worse, loses ground.

What the Warrior Does
General Patton said, “A Leader is a man who can adapt principles to circumstances.” The Warrior is a clear thinker with the ability to focus his mind and body upon the situation at hand, evaluate what needs to be done, the best strategy to accomplish this, and adapt to the situation as it progresses. Let’s look at these characteristics.

A clear mind is important to the Warrior. Without this quality, the Warrior can turn into a pushover, afraid to act. General Patton said, “No sane man is unafraid in battle, but discipline produces in him a form of vicarious courage.” This is the clear mind. It does not mean that the Warrior is unafraid; it means that the Warrior is able to rise above fear (knowing that progress is more important than fear) to take on the situation.

The Warrior is able to evaluate what needs to be done. This is important, and shows maturity. The immature Warrior, the Hero, will not evaluate himself or his circumstance. He does not possess the clear mind. The Hero will just jump into a situation blindly, and get slaughtered in the process. Many great warriors have been martyred out of true bravery, yet there is a clear difference between the bravery of a clear minded Warrior, and the Hero’s ill prepared attack that ends in slaughter.

A Warrior will be able to evaluate his opponent and circumstance, and plan out a strategy for engagement. If a frontal assault will not work he will plan a flank attack. If the opponent is too large, he will call for reinforcements. If the timing of the attack is wrong, the Warrior will regroup and engage when he is strong enough. The Warrior is a master of the battle. What if we applied such a mastery to life’s battles?

What if we had these characteristics when we were faced with difficult situations with someone in the workplace, a situation within our family, financial hardships, stressful times, new challenges, or tragedy? What if we could have clear thinking, focus, evaluation, and adaptation for the best way to overcome the situation at hand? Life would then become exciting! We could make progress in our marriages, jobs, education, and struggles.

Above all, the Warrior has principles that he lives by, and can adapt those principles to life’s circumstances. A true Warrior is not led about by fear, but has a positive attitude, courage, takes responsibility, is self-disciplined, and has mastery over his mind and body. A true Warrior will treat discomfort or pain as opportunity for strengthening. The reason a Warrior is not afraid of pain or discomfort is because he is led by his principles instead of comfort, he will rise above difficulty to fulfill his duty. No wonder the character of Warrior is so admired by men. He is admirable!

Where the Warrior Goes Bad
The character of the Warrior can go seriously wrong. Much of what we may have seen in the Warrior is his bad side. When the Warrior goes bad, he becomes the twofaced Barbarian/Pushover. Some men become enamored with the Warrior’s aggressiveness, but do not embrace his discipline and control. They end up becoming mindless, cruel, abusive barbarians.

When we suppress the character of Warrior in our lives, it acts like a bottle of soda. It can only be jostled around so much before it explodes, and then things get messy. Maybe we lose it on the dog, (a safe place to lose it) or the kids, a co-worker, boss, spouse, or friend. The suppressed Warrior, sooner or later, becomes abusive. A proper Warrior, however, is not abusive – ever. He is strong enough to control his emotions and his temper. Even the Bushido Samurai Warriors had a code of seven principles to live by: integrity, courage, generosity, respect, honesty, honor, & loyalty.

The Barbarian comes out of a severe insecurity. The aggressiveness is a protection for a fragile ego. The Barbarian is fearful that someone will find out that he really is a weakling, so he puts on an aggressive front. Usually the “alpha male” front works fine. Not many people are going to question him for fear of being chewed out!

The barbarian can also turn on himself instead of other people. He is the workaholic, student-aholic, or sports-aholic overachiever. He is the fearful one who will abuse himself, and, indirectly his family, with his absence physically and/or emotionally. This self abuse comes from a fear of someone finding out he does not have what it takes. He finds his identity in what he does instead of who he is. The foundation of his identity is resting on the shifting sands of other peoples opinions.

Those who do not hide their fear with an aggressive, macho front can turn into the pushover, the one who lets life happen to him, the one who lets fear keep him from action. He is the one who lets his weaknesses, fears, and insecurities rule his life, instead of overcoming them.

The “pushover” is the barbarian turned upon himself in another way. This man has convinced himself that he is a coward, and turns the abusive Warrior energy upon himself to punish himself for being cowardly. He allows people to push him around, because in his own mind, he deserves it for being so cowardly.

Theodore Roosevelt was a very sickly child. His father told him, “Theodore you have the mind but you have not the body, and without the help of the body the mind cannot go as far as it should. I am giving you the tools, but it is up to you to make your body.” Theodore responded without hesitation, “I will make my body.” Here is a picture of him in his youth. He grew up to be a very rugged individual not held up by his fears.

A pushover is afraid to confront life head on, and, therefore, takes a passive stance in the hopes of just surviving it all. The character of the Warrior, however, actively confronts evil and utterly destroys it, not out of a love of destruction, but in the hope that new life will spring forth, that good will fill the vacuum where the former evil prevented its flourishing. This is what Jesus did for us.

A Biblical Example: Jesus
Jesus was not afraid to use the character of Warrior to confront evil. The Pharisees were a strict religious sect of the Jews that had a stranglehold on their religion. The system was set up in such a way that if you did not have enough money to hire a religious lawyer to make sure that you were religiously fit to enter into the Temple, you could not participate. This left the poor, the sick, the widows, and the orphans out, and alienated from God.

Jesus, however, came onto the scene and preached the good news to the poor. The crowds came with such force that he was forced to preach in a boat for lack of room on the shore. Jesus was making God available to everyone. He was taking the monopoly the Pharisees held on God out of their hands, thus removing their power. In His system, the Pharisees no longer had the ability to financially capitalize on the poor. This made them angry, yet Jesus was led by his principles and not his fear.

Jesus confronted the religious buying and selling in the Temple and drove them out with a fierceness that could move a crowd. He was not angry because people were engaged in business at church, but because they had used all of the Temple space reserved for Gentiles to worship, keeping non-Jewish people from God as well.

The money changers were also responsible for making sure that sacrifices were up to par to offer to God, and if they were not, then they could most certainly buy one of these convenient sacrifices here for a higher fee. Or for another fee you could exchange your “unclean” pagan money here for “clean” Temple money, again for a fee. This was taking advantage of the poor coming to worship.

Jesus knew that his primary battle was not against flesh and blood, but it was a spiritual battle. Jesus went to the cross to defeat the powers of sin and death, utterly defeating them, so that new life with God could emerge. Here is what the writer of Hebrews says about the whole battle:
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.
Hebrews 12:1-2 (NLT)

We can actively confront the sin within our life and defeat it, and we can do this by the power made available to us through God’s Holy Spirit at work within us. Jesus is a great Warrior, and we can imitate him by living out the verse from Hebrews. This is what a disciple is, one who sees the teacher, and then goes and does likewise.

Too often we have a cerebral faith IN Christ that requires nothing of us but an agreement to doctrinal statements, but more importantly, we need to have the faith OF Jesus that led him to live the life he did. To walk as he walked, live as he lived. This is the type of faith that makes real change in how we live. This is the type of faith that is a lifestyle as well as a world-view.

There is so much evil in the world that needs war waged upon it. A good Warrior will destroy evil to make way for good.

If the Warrior is in a bad marriage, he will wage war upon whatever is keeping his marriage from being good, destroy it, and clear the pathway for new life in his marriage. If the Warrior is in a stifling job, he will discipline his mind and body, training himself patiently and destroying negative thought patterns and habits that keep him from advancement in order for new life to come. If a Warrior sees injustice within his sphere of influence, he wages war upon it, bringing peace.

Some men fear the inner Warrior’s aggressiveness so they suppress it, but it only leads to outbursts of rage, whether upon others or upon self. These outbursts of rage can be very camouflaged, as in the workaholic who spends all his time in the office, or the educational overachiever who misses the beauty of life in order to get a grade.

When we possess a spirituality that can access the Warrior, we can stop abusing others and themselves. We will not be passively watching life happen to us, but we will be actively taking on life. We will be Warriors who are principled, and under the authority of the King of the land, our King Jesus. We will wage war upon the injustice that we see and reflect God’s characteristic of justice. We will not take abuse from other people and shrug it off, but will “parry” their attempts to attack us, yet not barbarically counter attack. Our attacks will be for the purpose of bringing about new life, justice, and vitality into our kingdom, not feeble attempts to protect fragile egos

We would do well to remember Winston Churchill’s famous saying: “Never give in—never, never, never, in nothing great or small…never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.”

The King

2010-10-11T21:50:00.003-04:00

“If a man does not have an ideal and try to live up to it, then he becomes a mean, base, and sordid creature, no matter how successful.”
-Theodore Roosevelt

We men identify with the King. He is a picture of authority, power, stability, and centeredness. Maturing the character of King in our life provides this, which we all desire. We are all playing the role of “kings” with the influence of a “kingdom” of some kind. Maybe you have a family that you oversee, maybe you are a boss or a manager of employees, maybe you are a coach and oversee players. Even if you are a bagboy at a grocery store who lives alone, you have a kingdom called “your life” and it needs order and stability. No matter the size of the kingdom, we need to rule it well. But how?

What the King Does
Kings pass laws for the land to obey. Laws are for the peace and stability of the land. The first responsibility of a king is to embody the “law” that he is asking his people to live under. The king is a living example of the stability and peace that he expects of his people. If the king does not live this, then the king cannot extend this to his kingdom. He may try to enforce it with stale laws, but if he is not living it himself, he cannot pass it down to his people. If I do not have $20 in my wallet, I cannot give you $20. You cannot give away what you do not possess. If the King does not experience order and peace through his own law, he cannot extend that to his people.

What Kingship Looks Like
We all have a kingdom of some kind. This kingdom is made up of family, friends, work, play, relationships, and responsibilities. I was a youth pastor for a while and I noticed that many parents would drop their kids off so that we could “fix” them. Maybe a little church would do them good. The problem was, we had them for an hour, once a week, and had to give them back to the dysfunctional families that they came from for the remainder.

Why did the kids need “fixing”? We can go into all kinds of debate on social, theological, and economic fronts, but what it really comes down to is this: the parents did not possess the life they wished their kids to receive from church. They did not live it the rest of the week. You cannot give away something that you do not possess.

If we could live our lives as the embodiment of the law that we wish our children and grandchildren to live, we would make more ground than a one-hour per week youth group could ever do. Men need to live out the character of the King.

This is what Jesus did. The Israelites were given God’s pathway to walk down. They called it the Law. In the Hebrew it is “Torah” – the Way. Jesus said that He was the Way, the Torah. He was not saying, “If you want to get into heaven after you die, have faith in me, I’ll get you in.” He was saying, “If you want to know what God’s Law looks like lived out in a human life, look to me and do what I do.”

How Kingship Works
First, we can follow Jesus’ example. If we place our kingship under the rule of Christ, and follow him, we can look to those following us, and say, as Paul did, “Imitate me as I imitate Christ.” If we do this, then we will be a source of blessing, fertility, stability, centeredness, order, and rule to those within our kingdom. Our wives, kids, employees, friends, family, and even our own selves will flourish with peace. Peace is the sign that a good king is on the throne.

Second, we need to take a good long look at our lives and discover where there are areas of chaos. We need to find the areas that are under the influence of evil, and areas of conflict that needs engagement. We need to identify these areas and start to live differently. We need to live confidently in ways that promote peace, good, and resolution.

Where the King Goes Bad
There is, however, a shadow side to the King, a two faced Tyrant/Weakling. When the king is not living the law, he can become a tyrant who seeks, through his own insecurity and fear, to squelch the peace and prosperity of those in his kingdom whom he sees as a threat. If he can’t live the law, he will enforce one harshly. We have all had bad experiences with those who have abused authority; those who have authority without the character to back it up.

We look down upon this behavior in others, why would we live it? Yet we do when we seek our own gain at the expense of others. A good king lives for the good of the people in his kingdom, not for his own gain. A good king brings blessing to his people and peace to the land. The tyrant seeks to exploit his people for his own benefit. The tyrant seeks to abuse others for the sake of enlarging his own ego.

We hear about the Tyrant everyday. He is seen in the abusive (emotional, physical, mental or sexual) father/husband, the micromanaging boss, the crazy Bible thumper, the narcissism seen in the “my-way-or-the-highway” mentality, and an over sensitivity to criticism that leads to revengeful patterns.

The Tyrant exercises authority out of fear, for his true self is seen in the picture of the impotent king, the weakling. For fear of discovery, the weakling hides behind the tyrant facade. The King gone bad lacks centeredness, calmness, and security with himself. He does not live out a rule or law, but tries to impose one instead with his authority.

The weakling, when he is not hiding behind the Tyrant mask, is impotent, afraid to act, and paranoid. The weakling is actively looking for people to adore and praise him, all in attempts to build up a feeble self-esteem. The weakling needs people to like him and praise him in order to feel stable.

This means that the weakling is not very centered. His approval comes from his environment, which changes often, and not from a security and confidence that comes from the inside. This security is one that only God, the King of kings, can give and bestow to those who have stepped into his rule and reign.

A Biblical Example:
Jesus, the King of kings

The Bible speaks of God as King of kings. We are all kings as men set in charge of some sort of kingdom, and God is the true King of all kings. When we step into salvation through repentance, and start on the road toward holiness, we step inside of God’s rule, God’s kingdom. We become a part of his reign. We are His people and He is our God. God’s kingdom is a kingdom of peace, justice, and compassion. Accessing the king in us means surrendering our kingdom into God’s kingdom, and following God’s pattern of rule. Listen to Paul’s description of our King Jesus:

“Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.”
Philippians 2:6-8 (NLT)

Jesus shows us a centeredness and security that only God can give. It is our responsibility as men to mirror God’s humility, service, obedience, and grace. To live out the character of the King, we need to look to the life and death of Jesus Christ, our model for living, and live “the Way” that he did. We need to look to God’s empowering Spirit within each one of us, for it is the Holy Spirit who will lead us into all truth. And we need to look to God the Father, a model of love and fathering for us all.

When we can have a spirituality, a practice of faith that reflects the power of the Trinity, and changes us from the inside out, we will then possess an inner authority that comes from God. If we do not possess this, we have only a flimsy authority that needs to be “enforced” with tyranny or re-enforced with the praises of other people. This authority then extends to our kingdom that God has given us to steward, and live out Micah 6:8, which teaches us, “He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God”? (NRSV)

Introduction

2010-10-11T21:46:00.002-04:00

Introduction
If you are like me, you like a good story, and you know that a good story has good elements. One of the key elements to a story is conflict. You can’t have a story without conflict. If there is nothing to overcome, then the story is dreadfully boring! Can you imagine watching a movie about some dude washing his BMW?! (Funny that we think that will make a great life though. In all reality it is boring.)

A good story has some sort of conflict that the main character needs to overcome. In the classic stories the conflict usually comes from an extension of evil. The bad guys have invaded the land and need to be repelled. The bad guys bring conflict, evil, chaos, and disruption. We need key characters within those stories to help fend off the bad guys and bring back order, good, peace, and happiness.

Well, like it or not, we are living out a story, and each day is a new page. Every day has conflicts that need resolution, evil that needs battling, chaos that needs order, and disruption that needs peace. If we are going to live out a great story with our own lives, we are going to need some key characters in our story to help us accomplish this.

There are four characters in classic stories that help to accomplish this. These four characters are ones we can all identify with, and should live out in our own lives if we hope to gain any ground at conquering our chaos.

I came across a book that really helped me see the power of characters in a story. These four characters are the King, Warrior, Magician, and Lover. Each one is a character that we relate to, and a role that we fill everyday. These four characters are already being lived out in our lives today, in good ways and, in areas, bad ways. If we can focus in on ways we are living correctly and reinforce them, then discover areas that we are not and make the necessary alterations to correct them, we can bring peace, order, and stability to our story.

I invite you to read on and discover what each character, lived out well in our lives, can do.

Musings on Masculine Spirituality pt5

2010-10-02T23:53:00.003-04:00

So many men today need the approval of other men, which is a genuine need, that they will enter into the world of toys. The biggest truck, a bigger boat, a fancier grill, a faster car, a bigger TV, a sleeker motorcycle, men will seek the affirmation they truly need from other men by getting the oohs and ahhs as they drive by and show off their new toy. The approval is never lasting though, because they will need something bigger and better next time.

The reason they need the praise is because men really do need the approval of other men. Only masculinity can bestow masculinity, but only those who have a healthy masculinity can bestow a proper masculinity upon other men. So we are caught in a vicious circle. Men are so caught up in thinking that an apple is a orange, peach, cherry, or pear that they show off their fruit to others who believe the same thing they do, So we both compare pears thinking that they are an apple, and whoever has the biggest pear wins, until next time they compare. I think that this is what Jesus meant when he said, “do not build your house on sand.” Sand changes and shifts and is not worthy of a foundation, as with the opinions and approvals of others. If we build our identity upon the shifting sands of others’ approvals, then all it takes to knock us over is the disapproval of another. This is why Jesus tells us to build on the rock, his teaching of finding your identity within God, the ultimate apple tree.

So how and where do we find this illusive apple? As stated earlier apples bear apples. Men need to be involved in a healthy group of other men. Men who know what an apple is and is not. men who know that a pear, orange, peace, or cherry is not an apple. We need men who can speak with authority into other men’s lives, and speak life and healthy masculinity into us. We need men who can challenge us where we are weak and insecure, and support us where we have fallen. We need men who can point us to God, who is our heavenly Father, who can bring us through the process of making us men, who can plant an apple tree in our front yard, and give us the wholeness and fulfillment that only he can give.

2010-10-01T22:16:00.001-04:00

Test post from my droid.

Musings on Masculine Spirituality pt 4

2010-09-29T00:51:00.002-04:00

If the workplace is a pear, then the women and sex department have to be cherries. I love my cherry, she is sweet and delicious and refreshing. There is nothing wrong with a cherry. God made cherries and they are a good thing. But again we find so many men trying to get their apple from a cherry tree.

In our culture, you are a man if you have rock hard abs and have an attractive woman that you are able to please sexually. Many men do not have the ability nor the opportunity to achieve in the workplace. We have turned the workplace into a very impersonal place where men know that they are just another cog in the machine. Some of us know that we may NEVER find our apple within the workplace. And we are correct. We skip the whole illusion of the boss being the keeper of the apples. This is a grace from God, light for our path. But instead we turn down another unlit path.

Our media tells men that cherries are apples. This is what sells things, and what drives the market is what sells. Sex sells. Sex is not an apple. It is a very good cherry. But again you can never find your apple from anything other than an apple tree. I believe this comes from a culture of under-fathered and over-mothered men. Most fathers are absent, and we are taught that we need to look to the feminine to bestow upon us the masculine. But cherries don’t bear apples, they are not designed to, nor are they capable of doing it. When men turn to the feminine for their fulfillment of the masculine, they are turning down the wrong path. This path is that of fear. We fear our women because they could withhold our masculinity as punishment. Let’s make one point loud and clear, YOUR WIFE IS NOT YOUR MOTHER! She does not have the power to withhold your masculinity because she is not the keeper of the apples. She needs your masculinity to shelter her femininity. She needs you to be the man that God called you to be so that she can have the security to be the woman God called her to be.

This path can turn into a secretive secluded addiction to pornography. You can have the cherry, all the while thinking it is an apple, without the danger of rejection. But this is a double killer. It kills your masculinity because it enhances and weakens your insecurity as a man.

By seeking apples in this fashion, you are actually poisoning the ground where your apple tree is to be planted, preventing the chance that any apples would have to grow, and you are partaking of a cheap imitation of a cherry, not the real thing. So you are killing your ability to recognize a true cherry from the imitation. So within the secretive world of pornography, you kill two fruit trees with one axe, leaving you with cheap imitations, and a truck load of insecurity.

Musings on Masculine Spirituality pt3

2010-09-27T22:46:00.004-04:00

There are men who need to have a bigger and better trophy than the last. Men are warriors by nature, something that we will explore a bit later. We love… no…NEED to battle something, even if it is just a little white ball on a tee. And that is part of the apple we are seeking. Many men will search for this illusive apple within the arena of sports. We get to see concrete victory on a large screen with numbers on it. We did better than they did; we are better men than they are. We have the apples and they do not, the proof is in the stats/score/applause/praise. Maybe we don’t play, but we are fans of a team or a player. If we have the right labels (T-shirts, bumperstickers, Hats etc…) then the world will see that we have an apple.

Men can easily become addicted to the praise and affirmation they get from sports. Again, there is nothing wrong with a pear, a cherry, or even, in this case, a peach; they taste good. The mistake we make is confusing one fruit for another — a peach for an apple. So many men are convinced that a peach is an apple that even though they cannot perform in this area, they will identify with those who do and develop an unhealthy addiction to sports heroes or teams. I know many men who love the taste of peaches, eat peaches often, and do so in a healthy manner, knowing that they are not going to receive an apple from it. This is great. It is when we seek our apples in a peach orchard that problems arise.

There is a dark side to peaches as well, the addictive world of sports “fan-dom”. Sports aren’t bad. They can be a source of recreation, relaxation, and connection. But many men develop an unhealthy addiction to sports, thinking that they can receive an apple from them. Many guys cast aside their responsibilities to take care of their worlds that God has given them (stewardship). They trade their real world for a virtual one. There is nothing intrinsically evil about the peaches. It is the mistaking of an apple for a peach that gets men trapped.

The battle side of men can take us in one of two ways. One: it can fan our competitive natures in such a way that if we do not win we do not obtain our apple. Two: Our competitive natures can be rendered impotent because we know that a peach is not an apple, so we are very passive and do not battle for anything. Guess what, there are some things worth fighting for, and there are some things not worth fighting for. Wisdom to know the difference is critical, and the beginning of wisdom is...well, we’re coming to that soon enough.

Musings on Masculine Spirituality pt2

2010-09-26T22:35:00.003-04:00

Far too many men think that they can draw their masculinity from something other than the masculine. Masculinity is the stamp of approval that says we have what it takes as a man to take on the world. You can only get this stamp of approval from those who have experienced it. You can only give away what you possess. Most men in the West do not possess this true, healthy form of masculinity, so they cannot instill it into the next generation. In short, masculinity bestows masculinity. Apples bear apples. If masculinity is an apple, and the men who can bestow it upon others are apple trees, then, many men are searching for an apple from a pear tree. What does this look like?

Work/Boss| For many men, they did not receive adequate “masculinity training”, so they search for that approval within an authority figure. If the boss can give a sales ring, a promotion, more vacation time, or a raise, then we feel as though, for a moment, we have been handed an apple from an apple tree, when, in reality, we were handed a pear from a pear tree. We believe that we have received the approval we have been looking for, but, in reality, it is only a pacifier. We know deep down that it is only fleeting. This may be what Jesus is referred to when he said, “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, but lose his soul?” What would we gain from getting a pear tree when what we are searching for is apples?

The boss is probably in the same boat as the rest of us — looking for approval from someone higher up on the ladder. That is why they say it is lonely at the top. You have no one to receive your pears from anymore, and then you realize that you were not looking for pears in the first place. Maybe reaching the top is just as bad as reaching the bottom. Jesus said the first shall be last, and the last shall be first.

Pears are good. It is good to work, and get promotions and raises. It is good to have a boss you can look up to. It is good to receive praise and give praise in the workplace. Pears are good fruit, BUT it is not good to mistake a pear for an apple. It is a potentially fatal mistake that could cost you your soul and your masculinity.

Musings on Masculine Spirituality pt1

2010-09-25T12:06:00.003-04:00

The Apple tree: Men are searching for an apple. Not only are we searching for an apple, but we are looking to plant an apple tree right in our own front yard so that we do not have to go looking all the time when we need an apple. I have decided to use this illustration to make an abstract idea a little more concrete. Put bluntly, men are searching for their masculinity; “the stamp of approval that we have what it takes to take on the world”, the inner confidence that we are indeed men to be reckoned with, strong, capable, and wise. This is the apple. Unfortunately, men are looking in all the wrong places. We are looking to the pear trees, cherry trees, peach trees, and orange trees to give us the apple we are searching for. But only apple trees bear apples. Masculinity only comes from masculinity.

Also, most men do not have a point of reference in which to draw their spirituality. Spirituality is the actions we take to settle or fill the inner madness, the unquiet, the built-in discontentment, the inner drive for something bigger, the “God shaped hole,” the search for our identity, to put it in one word; fulfillment. And since men are masculine, searching for the approval and bestowing of the masculine, men experience a masculine spirituality. Masculine spirituality then is: what men do to search for and fulfill their identity as men.

Everything that men do to find this identity is spiritual by nature. Whatever we do in search of our apple is our masculine spirituality. This can be a healthy spirituality leading to life, security, and health, or it can be an unhealthy spirituality leading to death, insecurity, and degradation. Searching for the apple is a healthy thing, a natural thing, something we were created to do. All men are involved in the search. Searching for the apple among other fruit trees, or mistaking other fruit for an apple is where many men fall flat on their faces in failure.

Far too many men think that they can draw their masculinity from something other than the masculine. If masculinity is the stamp of approval that you have what it takes as a man to take on the world, then you can only get this stamp of approval from those who have experienced it. You can only give away what you possess. Most men today do not possess masculinity, so they cannot instill it into the next generation. In short, masculinity bestows masculinity. Apples bear apples. If masculinity is an apple, and the men who can bestow it upon others are apple trees, then, unfortunately many men are searching for an apple from a pear tree, their work.

So, Here we go again

2010-09-25T06:00:00.001-04:00

I am giving this blog thing a new try. Stay tuned for updates.

2010-01-10T19:04:00.001-05:00

Let the resurrected Christ within you burst from the tomb! Let Christ live the resurrected life through you.

2010-01-09T14:57:00.001-05:00

Community with unrealistic expectation will lead to pain.

2010-01-08T01:03:00.001-05:00

I am off to a conference for my masters degree this week. I'll update periodically.

WARNING: you will cry

2009-11-06T11:47:00.001-05:00

if a 6 year old can leave a legacy like this...
What are we capable of?

Verse of the Day

2009-10-21T16:37:00.002-04:00

1 John 4:16-21
God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world. Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love. We love each other because he loved us first. If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a Christian brother or sister, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see? And he has given us this command: Those who love God must also love their Christian brothers and sisters.

So much for letting Jesus sort out all this mess after we die. Let's start sorting now.

Poetry Hour: The Calf Path

2009-10-19T10:57:00.002-04:00

The Calf-Path
by Sam Walter Foss (1858-1911)

One day, through the primeval wood,
A calf walked home, as good calves should;
But made a trail all bent askew,
A crooked trail, as all calves do.

Since then three hundred years have fled,
And, I infer, the calf is dead.
But still he left behind his trail,
And thereby hangs my moral tale.

The trail was taken up next day
By a lone dog that passed that way;
And then a wise bellwether sheep
Pursued the trail o’er vale and steep,
And drew the flock behind him, too,
As good bellwethers always do.

And from that day, o’er hill and glade,
Through those old woods a path was made,
And many men wound in and out,
And dodged and turned and bent about,
And uttered words of righteous wrath
Because ’twas such a crooked path;
But still they followed — do not laugh —
The first migrations of that calf,
And through this winding wood-way stalked
Because he wobbled when he walked.

This forest path became a lane,
That bent, and turned, and turned again.
This crooked lane became a road,
Where many a poor horse with his load
Toiled on beneath the burning sun,
And traveled some three miles in one.

And thus a century and a half
They trod the footsteps of that calf.
The years passed on in swiftness fleet.
The road became a village street,
And this, before men were aware,
A city’s crowded thoroughfare,
And soon the central street was this
Of a renowned metropolis;
And men two centuries and a half
Trod in the footsteps of that calf.

Each day a hundred thousand rout
Followed that zigzag calf about,
And o’er his crooked journey went
The traffic of a continent.

A hundred thousand men were led
By one calf near three centuries dead.
They follow still his crooked way,
And lose one hundred years a day,
For thus such reverence is lent
To well-established precedent.

A moral lesson this might teach
Were I ordained and called to preach;
For men are prone to go it blind
Along the calf-paths of the mind,
And work away from sun to sun
To do what other men have done.

They follow in the beaten track,
And out and in, and forth and back,
And still their devious course pursue,
To keep the path that others do.

They keep the path a sacred groove,
Along which all their lives they move;
But how the wise old wood-gods laugh,
Who saw the first primeval calf!
Ah, many things this tale might teach —
But I am not ordained to preach.

From: http://holyjoe.org/poetry/foss3.htm

Quote of the Day

2009-10-16T01:23:00.000-04:00

The contemplative mind has the humility and patience to think “both/and” instead of “all or nothing.” We call this non-dual thinking. It easily leads to a “Third Way” mentality, neither fight nor flight, but standing in between where I can hold what I do know together with what I don’t know. And then I let that wonderful mix lead me to wisdom instead of easy, quick knowledge which largely just creates opinionated people instead of wise people.

-Richard Rohr

Interesting

2009-10-12T15:29:00.001-04:00

Very interesting interview on the difference between American Christians and Cultural Christians of Denmark, all from the standpoint of an atheist!

Busy Schedule

2009-10-09T00:50:00.003-04:00

I have been a bit too busy to post much. Things going on:

1. Teaching on a weekly basis on the book of Ephesians
2. Playing guitar in worship band
3. Renovating our youth program
4. Preparing for Guatemala 2010
5. Writing sermon series for November
6. Hunting
7. Masters Degree in Spiritual Formation
8. Getting the home ready for winter

That is off the top of my head.

I am going to have to live what I teach here soon. I always ask, "Is this pace sustainable?" If the answer is no, then I have to ask a very important question, "How will it end?"

There are two options:
1. I choose to slow down to a pace I can sustain
2. Life slows my pace down for me i.e. sickness, burnout, etc...

I believe that there are seasons in which busyness will happen. But I also believe that busyness should not be the normal.

Just some thoughts before I go to bed.

Can You Pray This Prayer?

2009-09-17T15:59:00.000-04:00

DANG!

nicely put

2009-09-17T14:05:00.000-04:00

www.thisisindexed.com

Narcissism is alive and well

2009-09-15T13:32:00.003-04:00

narcissism is alive and well in the church. Let me illustrate with a parable:

A dinner host invite someone over to their house for dinner, they talk and laugh and connect very well. Then the food is served. they have a salad appetizer, followed by a course of chicken, carrots, mashed potatoes, a roll, and 2% milk. they follow this up with cherry pie alamode for dessert. They laugh, talk, and connect some more.

The next time they are invited over, they refuse to come because the host served 2% milk, they instead like 1/2% milk.

They lose all of the fellowship and community that comes with the dinner experience because of a petty personal preference with milk.

The dinner host is God
The house is church
The dinner is the worship experience
appetizer = preparation for worship
dinner = worship experience: prayer, singing, message
dessert = fellowship after service is over
milk = worship music style

The purpose of the dinner experience is to get to know the host, the actual food is a vehicle for fellowship. When we make the dinner experience about the food, we lose sight of the purpose of the dinner experience and become irrelevant, unused, narcissistic Christians.

Paul wrote of this in Timothy, and includes an encouragement for the leaders who are over such people; and I like the message version best:
In a well-furnished kitchen there are not only crystal goblets and silver platters, but waste cans and compost buckets—some containers used to serve fine meals, others to take out the garbage. Become the kind of container God can use to present any and every kind of gift to his guests for their blessing.
Run away from infantile indulgence. Run after mature righteousness—faith, love, peace—joining those who are in honest and serious prayer before God. Refuse to get involved in inane discussions; they always end up in fights. God's servant must not be argumentative, but a gentle listener and a teacher who keeps cool, working firmly but patiently with those who refuse to obey. You never know how or when God might sober them up with a change of heart and a turning to the truth, enabling them to escape the Devil's trap, where they are caught and held captive, forced to run his errands.

Masters Degree

2009-08-24T11:36:00.002-04:00

Today marks the day that I start my Masters Degree! I have been wanting to go back to school for some time now, and really since last years missions trip to Mississippi, it has been very strong.

I applied at Spring Arbor for the Masters in Spiritual Formation and Leadership and was accepted. Today marks the first day of school, which is all online! Here is a description of the program from their site:

"With interest in spiritual formation increasing over the last twenty years among Protestants, evangelical denominations have expanded the concept of discipleship to include an openness toward deeper transformation in the likeness of Christ.

Spring Arbor University’s Master of Arts in Spiritual Formation and Leadership (MSFL) program merges the longstanding principles of Christian spiritual formation and growth with an evangelical perspective on discipleship. The program provides instruction for pastors, lay persons and others intent on their own development and fostering the skills to lead others in formation.

The MSFL program follows a hybrid format (partially online, partially in person) and is based on Renovaré’s six streams of faith and practice. Your studies will include retreats, seminars and online coursework. Complete the first two years—31 credits—for the certificate in spiritual formation and leadership. Complete all three years—45 credits—for the master’s degree. The program is delivered through cohort groups of students who progress through the degree requirements sequentially.

It’s a program designed to fit into your life, but will require significant time in your weekly schedule. We say this unapologetically since anything worth doing usually requires prioritizing our time. Time with God is no exception. It is an online degree designed to ensure that you will get to know God, your classmates and have the support of your professors.

The learning outcomes of the program will provide a strong grounding in historical knowledge, in-depth instruction in the practice of spiritual formation, and preparation for leading others in these practices."

The Root of Disappointment with God

2009-08-24T11:29:00.000-04:00

Ht Noel

Video of the Day

2009-08-03T14:48:00.000-04:00

What is that? (Τι είναι αυτό;) 2007 from MovieTeller on Vimeo.

Conversion Thoughts

2009-07-30T14:35:00.000-04:00

"Conversion is a process of disenchantment with our small, separate self, recognizing how truly afraid and insecure it is. The only way people can ever be freed from this fear and this insecurity is to be freed from themselves. There is almost a complete correlation between the amount of fear in one’s life and the amount of attachment we have to ourselves and our own agenda.

The person who is beyond fear has given up the need to control or possess or be right. Their being is grounded in the Being of God. As St. Francis of Assisi said, “I am who I am in God's eyes—nothing more, but nothing less.” A truly converted/transformed person does not need to impress anyone because they know that they are not who you think they are anyway—or even who they themselves think they are! Thinking one way or another doesn’t make it so.

That's what St. Paul meant when he so shockingly said: “You have died, you're dead” (Romans 6:3-5) when you are truly baptized into the death of the false self—the self that you don’t need anyway. Conversion happens when you finally face the real enemy, and guess what? It's you!"

-Richard Rohr: Radical Grace

The Bon Fire

2009-07-28T15:13:00.001-04:00

On the last night of our trip, we had our debriefing time around a bonfire. The Guatemalans do not build very good fires. You start with tinder on the bottom, then you build kindling on top leaving room for oxygen circulation, and then on top of that you put bigger stuff. That is the correct order. Small stuff on the bottom that will catch fire quickly and burn the medium stuff above it creating some embers to then handle the larger stuff above that.

The guy who built our fire just stacked a bunch of wood and threw gasoline on top and lit it. It went great for a few minutes, then it just smoldered. The guy came back out with some more gasoline and threw it on and it blazed for a minute, but then we had to still rearrange the wood and feed it slowly to get it to stay burning. I think there may be an allegory here!

Peter writes in his second letter:
"Everything that goes into a life of pleasing God has been miraculously given to us by getting to know, personally and intimately, the One who invited us to God. The best invitation we ever received! We were also given absolutely terrific promises to pass on to you—your tickets to participation in the life of God after you turned your back on a world corrupted by lust.
So don't lose a minute in building on what you've been given, complementing your basic faith with good character, spiritual understanding, alert discipline, passionate patience, reverent wonder, warm friendliness, and generous love, each dimension fitting into and developing the others. With these qualities active and growing in your lives, no grass will grow under your feet, no day will pass without its reward as you mature in your experience of our Master Jesus. Without these qualities you can't see what's right before you, oblivious that your old sinful life has been wiped off the books.
So, friends, confirm God's invitation to you, his choice of you. Don't put it off; do it now. Do this, and you'll have your life on a firm footing, the streets paved and the way wide open into the eternal kingdom of our Master and Savior, Jesus Christ.

A trip like Guatemala is gasoline to your faith. but if the wood pile is not properly arranged, it will burn bright and hot for a minute, but fizz out the next. We need to rearrange our lives so that when gasoline is dumped on our faith it is an accelerant that enhances and improves what is already built.

If you left this trip on fire, and crashed when you got home, that is a sign that you need to rearrange your life. Are your values and priorities arranged in proper order? If the large log of self is at the center of the pile, and the essential accelerants are on the outside, the fire can never burn well. Rearrange your values and priorities to put Christ at the center of the fire and stack everything around Him, and when an accelerant like Guatemala is poured onto your fire, it will enhance the existing bonfire.

Boat Ride

2009-07-28T14:59:00.000-04:00

we went to Santiago accross the lake from Panajacheal. We learned to do some bartering for some tourist junk. It was a good time. the boat ride was about an hour long, but the view was awesome.

lunch in the park

2009-07-28T14:56:00.000-04:00

On one of our work days we decided to have lunch in the park. we asked the park guard if it was okay to set up a taco buffet and eat, and he said yes. Then when we got the whole stinkin buffet set up, the guard came through and hurried us out of the park. We had to move fast, they had guns.
We re-set up our lunch on the curb outside, while these guys watched us eat. It was awkward.

Food

2009-07-28T14:51:00.001-04:00

the most interesting this we ate was this alien looking fruit.

We ate some pretty good breakfasts as well. Re-fried beans, fried bananas, eggs, goat cheese and watermelon.

Steven fought the law...

2009-07-28T14:49:00.000-04:00

Our second van was pulled over on the way to Panajacheal. Steven was doing the speed limit and driving very well. But the cops saw that there were 13 gringos in the van and decided that they needed a few extra bucks for lunch.

Steven was talking to the police in Spanish, but everyone could tell what was going on. The police were asking for a 200Q bribe to let them go. Steven kept saying that he had done nothing wrong and should be allowed to go without paying the bribe. Steven was then taken back to the police car, which made everyone in the van a bit nervous. Cherity said, "shhhhh! guys be quiet, if you're going to do anything, you should pray!"

Steven came back to the van. the police let them go without taking any money. God is awesome.

funny stuff

2009-07-28T14:43:00.000-04:00

Cabalos Extremos

2009-07-28T14:39:00.000-04:00

We were able to spend some time in Panajacheal and do the Zipline or Cabalos Extremos!

This was crucial to the thread that God was weaving through the trip of fear being an obstacle that we must overcome for a closer relationship with Him. Many people were a bit scared of ziplining through the mountains high above the canopy.

I loved Julie's comment aftereards, "This is the most victorious day of my life!"

time for something personal

2009-07-28T14:34:00.000-04:00

I was able to spend 8 days with my wife on an adventure doing ministry in Guatemala. I had a blast and would do it all over again. It was kind of like a honeymoon but doing work, and looking after 21 other people.

It was tough being away from our boys and only being able to call home once, but we made it through great, and the boys did great as well.

Simply Missions

2009-07-28T14:15:00.002-04:00

Our Guatemala trip was done through an organization out of Lansing named Simply Missions. Joe Neill is the head of this organization and was key to setting up our trip for us.
There are a few reasons why I chose to go through SM instead of trying to do everything myself.
1. I can't do everything myself very well. I wanted this trip to be the best experience that it could be, and that meant getting help from a very qualified individual.
2. I did not feel like a cog in a machine. Many missions organizations are very big, and impersonal. I knew that I could call or e-mail Joe and get responses fast to questions.
3. I did not have to squeeze my team into a "ministry model" and try to be something we were not. We were able to be ourselves and offer the gifts that God had uniquely assembled into our team to the missionaries.
4. I did not have to worry about setting up the details of travel, itinerary, lodging etc...
5. Joe provided our team with a devotional book to study through while we were down there on Ephesians 6.

There was a lot that I DID have to do for this trip, but Simply Missions freed me from the details so that I could focus on the big stuff that needed to get done.

If you are looking for a missions organization for Short Term Missions in your church. Check out Simply Missions. www.simplymissions.org

Global Soccer Ministries

2009-07-28T14:11:00.001-04:00

No this is not an advertisement for GQ. This is John Banta of Global Soccer Ministries. John and his wife Amy have three kids, Hope, Luke, and Titus. They have been in Guatemala for about 18 months working with the Global Soccer ministries (GSM).

GSM provides poorer communities with quality soccer coaching, mentoring, and discipleship. They work in the existing community soccer fields, fix them up, clean them up, and then outreach to the community by providing the soccer programs.

The coaches of GSM provide positive adult relationships for children by pretty much being a dad to them. They also have Bible lessons during each practice to teach the children about Christ.

GSM also hosts tournaments between the different community soccer teams.

This is a great ministry in an area where it is much needed. To learn more about Global Soccer ministries [click here]

Guatemala: 2nd Feild Project

2009-07-27T18:08:00.003-04:00

I cannot remember the name of this soccer field, so I have called it the 2nd field, because it is the second place we went to on our trip.

We cleaned up the field of trash and some other interesting items, and painted the benches.

used machetes to cut the grass (after which I vowed never to complain about my lawn mower again)

and participated in an informal soccer game against some Guatemalan children. We lost...badly. But had fun.

Guatemala: La Communidad Project

2009-07-27T17:54:00.004-04:00

Another project we had was located in a lower class community called La Communidad. We prepared the soccer field, played with kids, and handed out snacks and refreshments to the kids. Their snack was a small roll with re-fried beans spread on it, watermelon, and a sandwich bag full of water.

Alex was asked to play in a soccer game. He was schooled. The Guatemalan people eat, sleep, and breathe soccer. So by the time they are 15 or 16 they could destroy any senior varsity team in the U.S., and possibly give a few college teams a run for their money. So Alex was more amusing to them than helpful. But they all had a blast connecting on the field.

Someone on our team had an idea to bring their old Beanie Baby collection down. So we tied Bible verses to them and handed all 120 of them out to the children of the community. The kids lit up with delight to receive a present. The missionaries 11 year old daughter, Hope, shared the gospel with a young girl her age, and the girl wanted to pray with Hope and Amy, so they did so. It was a very awesome day.

Guatemala: Otten Prado Project

2009-07-27T17:44:00.004-04:00

We went to a field in a lower middle class community named otten prado and prepared it for a soccer tournament. Soccer to the Guatemalan people is like pot luck to the American people. It is a community thing. Global Soccer Ministries uses the tool of soccer to reach communities with the Gospel. The goal is to establish soccer camps in communities and provide quality soccer coaching, mentoring, and discipleship to children who would otherwise have access to none of the above.

We used a machete on the grass, cleaned up the garbage on the field, painted lines fort the game, and then divided into two groups to cheer the children on. Between games we handed out water and watermelon for refreshments.

Guatemala: Pinitos Project

2009-07-27T17:32:00.003-04:00

We were not allowed to take pictures here at Pinitos due to the poor living conditions of the people. So we snapped a few from the van before we got out. The community is in an alley between a slaughter house and a warehouse. The people live off of the scraps of the slaughterhouse by washing, rinsing, and drying the pig intestines to sell to sausage companies.

When we stepped out of the van we were hit with a stench so strong it turned the stomach. Then we looked at the ground to see a decomposing pig jawbone. We prayed for the community, and started to clean the community soccer field so that Global Soccer Ministries can start soccer/bible training for the community.

We cleaned glass, garbage, nails, and pig parts off of the field, and then painted lines on the field. We drew out a good amount of the community to ask what we were doing and why. Great opportunities to share the gospel.

A woman came out with a pitcher of lemonade to offer to us. But we had to turn her down due to the conditions of the water. Now to offer someone lemonade here is nothing, just put it in the fridge and drink it later. But most of them did not even have running water, let alone lemons and sugar. They lived on dirt floors in houses made of corrugated tin and held together with tree branches. Lemonade was everything she had, and she offered it to us.

It made me think of the story of the widow's pennies that she threw into the temple offering that Jesus highlighted and praised.

Guatemala: The People of Conalitos

2009-07-27T17:18:00.003-04:00

The kids were a bit sad, distant, and weary when we started this project, but we started to recognize a change. They started to warm up and join in to the project and interact with us. They were laughing and painting and playing with us. We weren’t sure how much of that they get from a day-to-day basis, so we took breaks from our work to play and interact as much as possible, and even invite them to help us with the projects we were working on. They brought just as much joy to us as we were bringing to them. That is the great part of missions trips. Sure we can do some work and projects, but the relationships and interactions with people are what God uses to bring transformation and change. In the bible it is called the ecclesia, or the gathering of God’s people, or the church.

Guatemala: Conalitos Project Highlights

2009-07-27T17:04:00.002-04:00

1. Pam and Charity were able to teach a Social Studies class about the American school system (through an interpreter) and share the gospel with a class of 15-17 year old students. They were amazed at the amount of resources available to every student here, like libraries, computers, paper and pencils, and books, and also amazed at the lack of their use. Perhaps this is why foreign students do better in our school system than we do. We take so much for granted.

2. Gary was able to treat a little boy for a scrape on his face. Men in Guatemala do not care for children. That is, "women's work" so boys are often left with no male model of love and care in which to compare God the Father to. So when Gary cared for this child and gave him a hug afterward, this little boy was astonished at the attention that a man was giving him.

3. My wife Kara loved on and prayed over a little infant who was so beautiful. We pray that she will experience more love and prayers because of this school and the ministry of John and Amy through Global Soccer Ministries at the school.

4. We moved a shed. A big iron one. It was heavy. It was also on the main pathway in the school. Then we laid a cinder block sub floor with the overseeing of Alan and Gary and poured a cement floor. This will be used as a snack shack during recess.

5. The Thank you ceremony. After we completed the project at Conalitos, Rosalia and Pastor Hieme, presented us with diplomas of accomplishment for the “beautification of their school.” It was a humbling experience. We felt as though we should be the ones GIVING the diplomas to them for their service at this school in the community.

Guatemala: Conalitos Project Overview

2009-07-27T16:30:00.006-04:00

July 13th 6:00am: I woke up and showered, feeling amazingly great missing a whole days worth of sleep the previous night, and went to breakfast. We had some awesome pancakes and bacon, a pleasant surprise for all of us who were expecting something odd and other worldly. John arrived and briefed us on or day. We would head to a school in Conalitos that was started by an amazing woman named Rosalia. She started this Christian school in the middle of a poor community as an outreach.

Or goal was to give the entire school a facelift. Wash all windows, paint all walls, sweep and rake all ground, scrape and paint all playground equipment. This is a site that we spent 3 days at. We divided our team into different parts and started to work. School was in session while we were working, so the kids and teachers were watching us and asking many questions about why we came all the way from Michigan to work at their school. This opened up many doors for sharing the gospel.

Guatemala: Day One

2009-07-27T14:16:00.005-04:00

I know it's been a while now. I feel as though I have recovered well enough to look back on the trip and write some posts now.

Saturday July 11th, Kara's parents came over to the house to watch the boys, while Kara and I got ready to leave that night at 1:00am. It seemed as though time was gradually speeding up. We had been planning this trip for 9 months, and now it was go time. It seemed a bit surreal.

July 11th, 10:30pm: I called my friend Joe from Simply Missions, who was key to orchestrating this trip, to see if we needed anything at all. Much to my surprise, we had not left enough time to get to the airport for an international flight. We needed 2-3 hours, and I had planned 1- 1 1/2 hours. So already I start getting a bit nervous. So I said, "alright, we will load the bus and leave as soon as we can to save on time." The bus was late. I was planning on loading the bus and leaveing by 2am. The bus did not arrive until 2:10, and we did not leave until 2:20.

July 12th 3:00ish am: I prayed on the bus, "God I need you to send angels before us to prepare the way through the airport, get us there speedily, and safely." I instantly have peace about the whole thing.

July 12th 4:40am We arrive at the airport and start to unload. I get into leader mode and delegate. I walk up to the door and a woman walks out to meet me and says, "are you the large group that we have been expecting?" I am looking at her stunned, and I say, "yes." She answers, "Alright grab your bags and follow me, I will get you all checked in." Let me say that I have never been greeted at the airport door by anyone, let alone have someone guide me personally through the check on process. She was an answer to prayer.

July 12th 5:00am: I am the first person to walk through security for the day, all of our group gets through without any delay, save Spencer whose bag was searched because of a bbq brush we were bringing down to John and Amy.

July 12th 6:30am: we begin boarding, take off, and prepare for the travel ahead of us which includes a layover in Atlanta. All goes well through the flights, customs, and we meet John and Amy in Guatemala city airport by 12:30pm Guatemala time, 2:30 Michigan time.

We load into two vans and head to lunch at McDonald's. I had fried chicken...at Mcdonald's...it was amazing. We arrive and realize that we left 5 people at the airport! I won the "awesomest leader of the year" award, and we went and picked them up. No big deal. Later on during our debriefing time, the people left at the airport described that their greatest fear on the trip was being left somewhere, and now that they got that out of the way, they felt as though they were good to go!

We traveled to our lodging, a Nazarene Seminary, unloaded, sat through orientation on the culture of Guatemala, ate diner, debriefed about our day, and the topic seemed to be consistent in all of our conversations and experiences for the day: "God is fully capable of taking care of us, and fear is an obstacle that we need to overcome." then we crashed. day one complete. total sleep for the day= 20 minutes.

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Guatemala Pictures 1

2009-07-17T00:21:00.000-04:00

Some work projects

2009-07-15T10:57:00.000-04:00

We Are Here!!

2009-07-15T10:43:00.003-04:00

Hey everyone,

We are here, and we have no internet access. There is internet on campus, but no one knows the code to get us on. So I am here at a coffee house letting everyone at home know that we are all okay, and having the time of our lives!

Here are a few pictures to let you know what we are doing:

We leave in one day!

2009-07-10T16:27:00.002-04:00

Are you nervous yet? Are you anxious yet? Are you fearful yet?
Take a minute and write out what you are nervous, anxious, and fearful of.

Is it flying?
Is it disease?
Is it the different culture?
Is it being far away from home?
Is it leaving someone behind?

What do these fears communicate to you? What do they tell you about your perception of God? What does it tell you about your perception of your faith?

Guatemala seems scary because it is foreign and far away. We tend to fear unknown because we have become accustomed to the dangers we face everyday. We feel as though we have some kind of control over the ordinary and familiar, when in reality we don't. I have not heard anyone communicate that they are afraid of the bus ride to the airport. Why not? It is just as dangerous as anything else we are doing! But we are familiar with bus rides.

It all boils down to one thing: SAFE IS A MYTH! I am not talking about recklessness, and unwise choices, like balancing on a rope . That is not so much dangerous as it is stupid and reckless. The Bible places much weight on making wise choices and acting prayerfully and wise in our choices.

But there is something that I have learned this past week. Safe is a myth. You are either doing what god wants, or you are not. You are either in God's will or you are not.

God can use your fears to teach you about yourself and what your faith is made of. It is easy to put on the mask of a strong faith and pretend we are fine. But God sees through our masks and sees our actual condition. So God can use a trip like Guatemala to teach you things about yourself.

In reality, God runs the universe and is looking out for us, even during tough times. A simple sentence that takes a lifetime to live out. God can watch over your loved ones better than you. God can keep a bus safer than you. God can keep a plane saffer than you can. God can keep us safe as we work on our projects better than you can. God is FULLY CAPABLE to protect you and keep you. He is stronger, wiser, more caring, more loving, more capable than you or me.

It is okay to feel fear. It is okay to cry over leaving loved ones behind for 8 days. It is okay to be a bit nervous. It is even okay to be scared out of your mind! But it is not okay to let fear dictate your life and decisions. That is idol worship.

Listen to this song and make the lyrics a prayer in preparation for our trip. Ask god to communicate what your fears reveal about your faith and perception of Him, your God. Do you trust Him? Why or why not?

Aaron Shust: Stillness (speak to me)

The Quiet Before the Storm

2009-07-08T15:55:00.002-04:00

We have a few days left before we go to Guatemala. I am getting excited, but I also feel a sensation in the pit of my stomach when I think of the trip. The best way to describe it is the feeling that you get during the climb of the first hill on a roller coaster. I am referring to this feeling as "the quiet before the storm".

I do not have any apprehensions or fears about going. I am very excited to go. I think that God is preparing my heart to do some transformation. This quiet preparation before the storm of transformation is a weird feeling. I have confidence that our team is going to have a face to face encounter with God. I believe that we will come back changed.

Looking God in the face is a scary thing. No one can see God and live. When you look God in the face you have to die to your self. It is much easier to keep God at arms length, to be a fan of Jesus rather than a follower of Jesus as my friend Ben puts it.

The challenge for me is to experience the trip with my team and not be the "leader" who is outside of the experience (at a safe distance). I am still the leader, and I will lead this team, but from the inside. So don't be surprised if you see me quiet, prayerful, or in tears. I am giving God full permission to work in my heart as he sees fit. I need work done in me just as all of you do. I am letting down my guard for this trip, and I pray you all do the same.

Be vulnerable. Be honest. Be prayerful. Be still. Immerse yourself into the experience of this trip. Give God full permission to engage your heart and transform you. Stare your ugliness, neediness, fearfulness, insecure self in the face and grieve over your sin. Stare your God in the face and worship Him for his goodness. He loves you despite the previous list of attributes we default to.

God Showed Up

2009-07-07T14:46:00.000-04:00

In church this past Sunday we heard a message on 2 Chronicles 7 and the completion of the Temple:

"When Solomon finished praying, a bolt of lightning out of heaven struck the Whole-Burnt-Offering and sacrifices and the Glory of God filled The Temple. The Glory was so dense that the priests couldn't get in—God so filled The Temple that there was no room for the priests! When all Israel saw the fire fall from heaven and the Glory of God fill The Temple, they fell on their knees, bowed their heads, and worshiped, thanking God: Yes! God is good! His love never quits!"

It is easy to read over this passage and say, wow I wished God moved like that still today. But if you read into the context of the passage a bit more, you find out that God only showed up after the 20 years of building and preparation. The fireworks came after the preparation and work.

We are going on a missions trip here in 5 days to Guatemala. We have 6 months of preparation, meetings, fundraisers, prayers, conversations, and even confrontations. God is going to show up in our lives in a big way. I do believe that the more you immerse yourself into the experience, the more that you will take away from it. If you stand far off at a safe distance, you will merely have a good tourist experience.

So 5 days away. I say we surrender our fears of encountering God, surrender our tendency to keep God at arms length, surrender our expectations, surrender our will as one big offering and sacrifice to God. Let's see what kind of bolt of lightning will come from heaven and consume that sacrifice. Let's see the glory of God fill this "Temple" which in the New Testament is his people.

12 days until Guatemala

2009-06-30T15:45:00.001-04:00

Only 12 days left. We have been working on this trip since December and now it is upon us.

We have raised $21,989.52 and we have $3,017.48 to go.
We have 23 people going on this trip

I can't wait... more to come

the Jesus Manifesto by Frank Viola and Leanord Sweet

2009-06-26T13:39:00.001-04:00

"Jesus Christ cannot be separated from his teachings.
Aristotle says to his disciples, ―Follow my teachings.
Socrates says to his disciples, ―Follow my teachings.
Buddha says to his disciples, ―Follow my meditations.
Confucius says to his disciples, ―Follow my sayings.
Muhammad says to his disciples, ―Follow my noble pillars.
Jesus says to his disciples, ―Follow me.

In all other religions, a follower can follow the teachings of its founder without having a relationship with that founder. Not so with Jesus Christ. The teachings of Jesus cannot be separated from Jesus himself. Jesus Christ is still alive and he embodies his teachings. It is a profound mistake, therefore, to treat Christ as simply the founder of a set of moral, ethical, or social teaching. The Lord Jesus and his teaching are one. The Medium and the Message are One. Christ is the incarnation of the Kingdom of God and the Sermon on the Mount."

Read the full manifesto here [click here]

Quote of the Day:

2009-06-26T13:05:00.001-04:00

"Walter Brueggemann says the job of the prophet is to free people from their numbness. That is also the task of the church. It is to wake people up, to bring them to consciousness, and not just to comfort them in their unconscious state. I am afraid a lot of soft piety and too quick religious comfort does precisely that. The giveaway is when one finds no attitude of service, volunteerism, or compassion for the outsider emerging from one’s attendance at church services.

True prophetic religion allows us to hold, suffer, and also enjoy all that God holds, suffers, and enjoys—which is everything—the good and the bad of our histories."
-Richard Rohr

How He Loves - David Crowder Band / John Mark McMillan

2009-06-24T16:30:00.001-04:00

September 22nd is the release date for "Church Music" the newest release from David Crowder*Band. Can't wait. Here is the video of one of the newest releases.

I love the lyrics.

Love Song to the Dark Lord

2009-05-27T15:05:00.002-04:00

Ouch. HT James McGrath

Hmmmmmmm.

2009-05-26T14:13:00.001-04:00

Quote of the Day: George Bernard Shaw

2009-05-14T13:23:00.000-04:00

One True Joy in Life

"This is the one true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one;the being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish clod of ailments and grievances,complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.

I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community and as long as I live it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can.

I want to be thoroughly used up when I die. For the harder I work, the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake.

Life is no brief candle to me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I've got hold of for the moment and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to the future generations."

Brueggemann on Preaching

2009-05-12T14:12:00.002-04:00

What a thought provoking video.

HT Mark Riddle

Budget and Finances

2009-05-12T13:23:00.003-04:00

I have recently kicked our finances in the butt and started to take them seriously. I made a budget and have stuck to it since January without fail! It is a win in my corner. I have never been really good with money. I always thought that living on a budget would be so stressful and constricting, it is not! It is freeing and liberating! Just imagine being in the store and holding your debit card and knowing exactly how much you are allowed to spend, or checking our savings account, and seeing money in there, or seeing a large bill come in like propane, medical, car or house repair, and knowing that there is money set aside for this purpose! It is a great feeling.

A recent post on Bargaineering.com inspired me to make a cash flow chart of how my finances work so that I can see where my money is going in a picture. I left amounts out, but would like to share the map with you all.

A bit of explanation is required to navigate our flowchart. Workplace is where my funds are generated and thus it all starts there. They take care of my IRA and Health Insurance and then give me a paycheck (thank you!) But taxes are removed from there. After that I deposit my check into our Credit Union Checking Account. From there it goes four places

1. We support children through worldvision and the funds are automatically withdrawn.

2. I setup on our billpay site at the beginning of each month to pay all of our utilities and debts on the dates that they are due.

3. Our ING Direct account withdraws 5 withdraws each week.
a. Emergency Fund: for emergencies only!
b. Expense Account: We added up all the big bills (propane, car repair, house repair, medical, car registration etc...) we pay each year and divided by 52, that number is withdrawn each week.
c. Gifts/Giving: We added up Christmas, birthdays, vacation, outings, and what we would like to give away to people who need help and divided by 52. That number is withdrawn each week.
d. Tithe: self explanatory
e. 10 year trip: Kara and I are going on a missions trip for our 10 year anniversary. We took the price of the trip, the weeks left to the date, and divided to get a number and have that tiny amount withdrawn each week.

4. Weekly Expenses:
a. Our gasoline, food/supplies, are either left in our account (with a concrete number ascribed to them) or is withdrawn in cash each week. When the number is reached, or the cash is gone, we are done spending.
b. Flex Bucks: we have a few dollars left in our account each week to allow for flexibility and unforeseen expenses. This is the key to having a working budget, flexibility. If it cannot bend, it breaks.

You may be thinking, wow, he must make a fortune to have finances work so well. I don't. We are on one income that is about as much as a low end manager at McDonalds. I found that the key is to SAVE money, GIVE money, and PAY bills first thing, then see how much you can spend on yourself. Live under what you make and you can make any budget work. Give every dollar a place to go and a job to do, and you won't overspend.

That is what we are doing, and it is working. Love to hear any thoughts.

Books, Books, Books

2009-05-11T09:59:00.002-04:00

Books read last quarter:
1. Chronicles of Narnia, Magicians Nephew 4/5
2. Chronicles of Narnia, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe 4/5
3. Chronicles of Narnia, A Horse and his Boy 3.5/5
4. Chronicles of Narnia, Prince Caspian 4/5
5. Chronicles of Narnia, Voyage of the Dawntreader 5/5

I am reading the Narnia series for the first time and loving it.

6. Inferno; Dante 3/5

A very tough read, and very freaky. Imagine Greek Mythology meets Roman Catholicism. It had some pretty freaky images. I kept sayinng to myself, if this was made into a movie, it would have to be seriously edited to come down to R rating.

7. Black, Ted Dekker 5/5
8. Red, Ted Dekker 3.5/5
9. White, Ted Dekker 4/5

I read the Circle. I am NOT a big fan of Christian fiction (by the way why are all womens Christian fiction in the setting of the 1800's?) BUT this was an exception. When asked to describe it to others I said, "Imagine the show 24, meets 12 Monkeys, meets Narnia, meets Matrix, and then is turned into Christian Fiction." Black was the best by far of the series, and it seemed to go downhill in RED and then White pretty much redeemed the series.

10. The Hidden Power of Electronic Culture, Shane Hipps 4/5

Eye opening and educational

11. Hold on to you N.U.T.s, a Relational Guide for Men, Wayne Levine 5/5

Love the title! And this was a great book for guys to read.

12. The Way of the Heart, Henri Nouwen 5/5

If its Nouwen, its going to be great, and this was.

13. Jesus’ Plan for the New World: The Sermon on the Mount; Richard Rohr 5/5
14. Prayer Finding your Heart’s True Home; Richard Foster 3/5
15. Andromeda Strain; Michael Crichton 3.5/5
16. The Eyes of the Dragon; Stephen King 4/5

Books to read this quarter:
1. Jesus wants to save Christians, Rob Bell
2. The New Man; Thomas Merton
3. No Man is an Island; Thomas Merton
4. Meeting Jesus Again, for the First Time; Marcus Borg
5. Book of Letters; Lawrence Kushner
6. Coming Home to your True Self, Leaving the Emptiness of False Attractions; Albert Haase
7. The Freedom of Simplicity; Richard Foster
8. The Promise of Paradox, Parker Palmer
9. Christless Christianity, Michael Horton
10. Purgatory; Dante
11. Chronicles of Narnia, The Silver Chair
12. Chronicles of Narnia, The Last Battle
13. The Prodigal God; Timothy Keller
14. How to Read the Bible or All its Worth; Gordon D. Fee
15. Hermenutics;

Turkey Hunt 09

2009-04-24T11:20:00.000-04:00

I decided this year, to give turkey hunting a shot. I am very glad I did. I asked my friend Steve to show me the ropes, and he was a great teacher. I learned a whole lot about turkey hunting in a period of a few weeks.

Thursday morning at 4am I woke up and got ready and was in place on our site by 5:15am. We sat and waited for the woods to wake up. Then we heard the gobbling from the trees. A large turkey decended from the tree and took position behind a bush roughly 30 yards from our location. I could not get a shot in, and he fled once he realized that we were there. We tried a few other spots, but to no avail.

Friday morning we decided to wake up and get to our site by 4:30am instead. We did so, but when the forest awoke, the gobbling was far away at a different roost spot. We quickly packed up and headed through the swamp towards the turkeys. We took position on the outside of the swamp and started to call. They were far away and I thought that we were not going to see a turkey at all. Then we heard a gobble within 50 yards and closing! I put my mask on and raised my gun. Two turkeys came into the clearing and Steve said, "take it." My heart was puonding so hard I could hardly hold the gun steady, but I pulled the trigger and shot a perfect head shot on the turkey.

My first turkey:
weight: 17 pounds 2 ounces
beard: 10 1/2 inches AND 1 1/2 inches. (I shot a double beard, which is rare!)

who needs labels?

2009-04-06T15:01:00.000-04:00

HT Marko

thought of the day:

2009-04-06T12:17:00.000-04:00

Am I more concerned about changing others or myself?

Jesus took away the sin of the world by exposing it first of all as different than we imagined, and letting us know that our pattern of ignorant killing, attacking and blaming is in fact history’s primary illusion, its primary lie.

Then he shared with us a Great Participative Love, which would make it possible for us not to hate at all. The game was over after Jesus, at least for those who gazed long enough.

We all had to face the embarrassing truth that we ourselves are our primary problem. Our greatest temptation is to try to change other people instead of ourselves. Jesus allowed himself to be transformed and thus transformed others!

Richard Rohr: Things Hidden: Scripture as Spirituality, p.195

Prayer of Examen using fruits of the Spirit

2009-04-03T15:12:00.002-04:00

Prayer of Examen is an ancient prayer exercise in which you ask God to explore your life, attitude and action, and do the proper adjustments. I wrote this specific exercise using the fruit of the spirit as a guideline to weigh our attitudes and actions against. Its nice to do about once a week to get your bearings straight.

Start by praying Psalms 139:23-24
“Investigate my life, O God, find out everything about me; Cross-examine and test me, get a clear picture of what I'm about; See for yourself whether I've done anything wrong— then guide me on the road to eternal life.”

Read Galatians 5:22-23 answering the below questions concerning each fruit. For the failures you see, ask forgiveness and repent without justification. For the successes you see, thank God for the strength to do what is right.

…when the Spirit controls our life, He will produce this kind of fruit in us…

LOVE
This week have you lived with an awareness of others hurts, needs, dreams or have you lived with a developed callousness to anything but your own hurts, needs, dreams.

JOY
This week have you lived with an awareness of God’s constant and continual blessing in your life, right down to each breath you take being a gift from God, or have you lived with an over awareness of things you don’t possess or circumstances that would be better. (also called envy)

PEACE
This week have you lived with an inner quietness, peace, and assurance that God is in control and has you in mind as He runs the universe, or have you lived with anxiety, fear, and a sense that it is you against the world.

PATIENCE
This week have you lived with a patience for others faults, failings, let downs, or have you lived life with an attitude of entitlement and superiority.

KINDNESS/GOODNESS
This week have you let love, joy, peace, and patience outwardly express itself to those you encounter, from stranger to family, with an attitude of kindness and goodness, or have you let the absence of love, joy, peace, and patience express itself in rudeness, feelings of entitlement, seeking your own agenda at the expense of others well being, inconsiderate of others, or feelings of fear of being taken advantage of.

FAITHFULLNESS
This week have you lived with a steady assurance that you can rely upon God, and expressed that assurance by being reliable to your family, friends, and strangers, or have you been more like a ship in a storm at the mercy of the wind and waves, ad expressed dount by being wavering and unreliable.

GENTLENESS
This week have you lived with an attitude of humility and gentleness and mildness or have you lived with a feeling of being right, superior, or better than those you meet. Have you acted in angry, oppressive, manipulating, or violent ways.

SELF CONTROL
Have you lived with gratitude for the blessings you have, moderating and controlling the good experiences, in full control of life, or have you over indulged in things letting them take control of your life; food, drink, money, work, shopping, entertainment, hobbies, vices.

Matthew 8:28-34

2009-03-20T13:46:00.000-04:00

Have you ever begged Jesus to go away and leave you alone?

Quote of the Day

2009-03-17T11:22:00.002-04:00

"A person consciously filling a vase with water—out of a union and love of God—is giving more glory to God than a priest at the altar who is standing there in a state of anger or separateness."
-Mother Teresa

"It’s all about the who (God), not the what (works), and we spend all of our time concentrating on what “I” should do."
-Richard Rohr

Religious for Religious sake?

2009-03-16T13:55:00.001-04:00

Zechariah 7 study: A Call to Justice and Mercy.

I was reading Zechariah today and I came across this passage. The people of God are in exile from their homeland, their promised land that God had blessed them with, and had lost favor with God because of their breaking the contract they made with God. They have a question for God.

“Should we continue to mourn and fast each summer on the anniversary of the Temple’s destruction, as we have done for so many years?”

In essence they are asking, God are you still mad at us, are you going to be mad forever because if so, we want to know if we need to continue on with all this religious stuff that seems to be giving us no progress in our life whatsoever. It all seems pointless God.

I know that I have been there. God, do I really need to (fill in the blank with spiritual exercise) is it going to get me anywhere, is it going to advance me in anything, will I make any progress? I love God’s answer. He seems to be able to see to the heart of human selfishness and call us on it.

“During these seventy years of exile, when you fasted and mourned in the summer and in early autumn, was it really for me that you were fasting? And even now in your holy festivals, aren’t you eating and drinking just to please yourselves?’”

I love how God answers questions with questions. God stares our selfishness in the face and says, “Are you serious? You really think this way?” We ask God, “What’s in it for me?” and God responds, “What if it’s not about you?” This response leaves us speechless. “But it has to be about me, what else is there?”

This leads me to a question that God is asking, “Are you religious for religious sake?” God has always asked one thing from His people and he restates it over and over in the Old Testament, and Jesus echoes it again and again in the New.

“This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies says: Judge fairly, and show mercy and kindness to one another. Do not oppress widows, orphans, foreigners, and the poor. And do not scheme against each other.”

But it can’t be that easy, it can’t be all about that. It has to be some big complex religious theology that we must wrap our minds around. But the response of the Israelites is the same response we give today in most cases:

“Your ancestors refused to listen to this message. They stubbornly turned away and put their fingers in their ears to keep from hearing. They made their hearts as hard as stone, so they could not hear the instructions or the messages that the LORD of Heaven’s Armies had sent them by his Spirit through the earlier prophets. That is why the LORD of Heaven’s Armies was so angry with them. “Since they refused to listen when I called to them, I would not listen when they called to me, says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies. As with a whirlwind, I scattered them among the distant nations, where they lived as strangers. Their land became so desolate that no one even traveled through it. They turned their pleasant land into a desert.”

Our response is to keep on being religious for religious sake so that we do not have to confront our own selfishness and ugliness. We wish to take a mask and hide it from others and ourselves. But the truth is still there, we are selfish, we are sinful, we are ugly. The gospel is so transforming because God opens our eyes to our own ugliness and says, let’s heal this. Then we become conduits for that same transformation that God has brought in us!

We are a people who need to be born again and again and again… We need multiple conversions, not from a salvation standpoint but a refining one, because our sinfulness, and ugliness, and selfishness runs deep into our DNA and God takes us along a path called sanctification, a process of being made holy and like God. God is in constant refining mode on us.

When God transforms us we then become the people who fulfill His purpose, being a people who are concerned with bringing justice, mercy, and grace into a world that is in desperate need of it.

So, why are you religious?

Quotes of the Day

2009-03-16T12:27:00.002-04:00

If we do not transform our pain, we will most assuredly transmit it.
-Richard Rohr

No problem can be solved with the same consciousness that caused it.
-Albert Einstein

N.T. Wright is my Hero (kinda)

2009-03-12T13:34:00.003-04:00

I know that N.T. can be a bit wordy, a bit stuffy, and a bit overwhelming informationally, but I love to listen to his messages. I have to listen to them 3 times just to figure out what he is saying, and then I have to listen to them 5 times to sort out all the information, but I love it. One of my spiritual disciplines that connect me to God is the study, in depth, get into the Greek, get into the History, get into the Theology study.

One of the reasons is the fact that I love angles. I love to look at the gems of scripture at a different angle and see how it reflects the light in a new way. Same light, same gem, different angle. N.T. provides some historical perspectives that really get me looking at the scriptures from some more angles.

When I deliver a message, I try to have as much information on the subject as I can fit into my head, and then communicate one idea at 3 or 4 angles. Having the information in my head gives me the confidence to speak. One of the dangers of being too informational is losing people, people who don't care about history or Greek or Theology. But if you can provide many angles on the same subject, a subject that matters to real people in real life, in one sermon, the chances of losing people diminish, and you get to communicate to the differing levels of maturity in the room. Someone may have heard a sermon on this parable thirty times already and immediately shut it down with, "Oh, I've heard this before." Even if they are not practicing or applying the parable. Love your neighbor. We've heard that fifty billion times, but sometimes it takes a different angle to get us to think about it again and then re-apply the message.

You can check out some of his MP3's here

Being Born Again and again and again and ...

2009-03-10T14:18:00.002-04:00

Shane Hipps gave one of the best messages I have heard in some time

[click here]

Rob Bell and Shane Hipps Interview

2009-03-10T13:21:00.001-04:00

Is American Individualism Killing the Church?

2009-03-10T13:05:00.002-04:00

Interesting Article over at Mark Riddle's Blog

"I saw this article this evening. It states that America is less Christian than 20 years ago. I'm not sure this is news. It was interesting that the article pointed to a rise in individualism as part of the cause. Again, not really news.

Here's my take.

The article is extremely generous. It's worse than this.

Why?
Because in growing segments of the evangelical church there is fundamentally no difference between the individualism of those who deny being Christian, and the individualism that many evangelical churches preach. This will not last because it is empty. An individualism, me first mentality, wrapped in the language and ideas of Jesus, isn't the way of Christ, because it makes Jesus an accessory and the programs of the church a way to keep my kids out of trouble and help me become a better educated individual. So Bible Studies and programs fill our calendars, and we sit in pews of large churches, and maybe watch our pastor on a screen, while we learn more about Jesus, then we walk out as isolated and alone as we were before."

Brilliant Parable!

2009-03-10T12:50:00.001-04:00

Absolutely Brilliant parable from my friend Joe.

"Once there was a kingdom with a King who owned many horses. A certain man worked hard every day from sun up until sun down carrying bags of food for the kings horses to eat. It was an important task as the horses were the Kings prize possession. He did this every day, pulling the heavy cart through the streets. Everyone thought he was a hard worker, and eventually he became the most famous horse food carrier in all of the land. Finally he died. And the next day someone else carried the food."

Are you awake?

2009-03-04T11:44:00.000-05:00

I Love Jesus!

2009-03-04T11:40:00.000-05:00

Quote of the Day:
"We have not built a church capable of welcoming the manifest presence of God. We have built a church for our ministry, not His." Graham Cooke

Cause a Ruckus?

2009-03-04T11:35:00.000-05:00

-should we go in and cause a ruckus?
-They're doing fine on their own. We're not needed there.

My Alphabet Blocks

2009-03-04T11:31:00.000-05:00

Perception is Reality

2009-03-04T11:29:00.000-05:00

Dialogue:
-What are you building?
-God
-You mean your perception of God?
-perception is reality

40 - A Video Of Jesus In The Wilderness

2009-02-26T13:59:00.001-05:00

Amazing Video. I have been thinking a lot about the 40 days in the wilderness lately. I am going to dive into it after the Sermon on the Mount series is over with this weekend.

HT> Mark Riddle

Blessed are the Peacemakers

2009-02-25T17:19:00.000-05:00

This is the last week of the series on the Sermon on the Mount. I wrote this comic today while I was studying to illustrate our views of harmony and peace.